PDIP Legislator Criticises Forestry Ministry Budget for Lacking Forest Fire Prevention Focus
Sonny T. Danaparamita, a member of Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), has highlighted the budget breakdown presented by the Minister of Forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, for 2027. Sonny assessed that the Ministry of Forestry’s budget has not prioritised the prevention of forest and land fires (karhutla).
“I still see these forest fire budgets as being oriented towards firefighting rather than prevention. In the final slide, there was a comparison between renting and buying helicopters. Why is there no comparison showing how much prevention costs versus the cost of renting?” Sonny stated during a Working Meeting at the DPR, Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday (1/9/2026).
Sonny argued that the Ministry of Forestry should be able to anticipate forest fire cases, which have the potential to become an annual agenda in Indonesia. He observed that the Ministry’s current stance appeared resigned.
“It seems we have realised that forest fires will become an annual calendar event. I see this as an attitude of resignation, rather than proactive preparation,” said Sonny.
He noted that without proactive measures from the Ministry of Forestry, forest fires will continue to occur every year. The PDIP legislator demanded a commitment from the Ministry to resolve the issue of forest fires.
“There is a difference between being prepared and simply being resigned. If this continues, we cannot expect forest fires to decrease. From the start, our design for protecting our forests has not been focused on prevention,” Sonny explained.
“This can be seen from the figures: out of Rp 1.746 trillion, only Rp 108 billion is for community involvement in preventing forest damage, while Rp 1.54 trillion is for helicopter rentals. The disparity is very significant,” he added.
Ministry of Forestry’s Additional Budget Proposal
The Ministry of Forestry has proposed an additional budget of Rp 6.238 trillion for 2027. Raja Juli stated that the additional funds are intended for institutional strengthening through to disaster recovery.
“The Ministry of Forestry has proposed an additional expenditure budget of Rp 6.238 trillion, which will be used for: a. strengthening regional forestry institutions; b. prevention and management of forest and land fires; c. extreme poverty alleviation and disaster recovery; d. strengthening forest area governance,” Raja Juli said during the DPR meeting.
He mentioned that the additional budget already approved for the Ministry stands at Rp 1.55 trillion. Consequently, the Ministry still requires an additional Rp 4.68 trillion.
“However, the 2027 budget ceiling for the Ministry of Forestry received an additional budget of only Rp 1.55 trillion. Therefore, there is still a deficit of Rp 4.68 trillion,” Raja Juli said.
“For that reason, we would like to propose an additional budget for 2027, as mentioned above, of Rp 4.68 trillion, and we hope this can serve as input and a recommendation for Commission IV of the DPR RI in preparing the Ministry’s budget ceiling for 2027,” he added.
He detailed that the additional budget would be used, among other things, to strengthen forest security patrols in high-risk areas. The additional budget, according to Raja Juli, would also be used to rent six helicopters and six water bombers for the monitoring and handling of forest fires.
“The strengthening of operational support includes renting 6 helicopter units and 6 water bomber aircraft units, which will be used in an integrated manner to support patrol activities, monitoring forest area conditions, early detection, and the rapid and effective handling and extinguishing of forest fires,” he said.
Raja Juli then explained the Ministry’s reasoning for renting helicopters and water bombers. He assessed that renting the fleet at a cost of Rp 1.54 trillion is more flexible and efficient, as it avoids the burden of maintenance.
“We view the rental scheme as more appropriate than purchasing assets, because it requires lower initial capital expenditure, does not burden the government with maintenance costs and technical risks of the aircraft, and provides flexibility in determining the number and type of fleet according to the level of forest fire risk each year,” Raja Juli said.
“Therefore, we consider the rental scheme to be more flexible, efficient, and responsive in supporting forest area security and the prevention and control of forest fires,” he added.
Raja Juli noted that the budget for the operational needs of these 12 aircraft is approximately Rp 1.54 trillion. He expressed hope that the Ministry’s additional budget proposal to the DPR would be realised.
“Taking into account the operational needs for 8 months of the normal period and 4 months of the high-risk forest fire period, each unit is planned to have a rental requirement of 856 hours per year. With this composition, the operational needs for the 12 aircraft units are estimated at around Rp 1.54 trillion per year,” he concluded.