Prabowo orders boreholes at every forest fire hotspot

President Prabowo Subianto has ordered the construction of boreholes at every forest and land fire hotspot in Riau to prevent them from developing into active fire points.

During a forest and land fire handling meeting in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Monday, the president stressed that fire management must be carried out early, without waiting for hotspots to turn into fires.

“Don’t wait until it becomes a fire point. Please go into the hotspot. Go in immediately, take early action. Can water boreholes be made in those places?” Prabowo said, monitored online via the Presidential Secretariat broadcast in Jakarta on Monday.

He asked that the 306 hotspots detected in Riau be followed up immediately with the construction of boreholes.

“I think just go ahead and drill water boreholes at the 300 points immediately. As soon as there is a hotspot, drill a water borehole there. Don’t wait for a fire point,” he said.

According to Prabowo, the measure is part of prevention efforts to ensure fires do not spread.

In addition to boreholes, he asked the government and authorities to prepare various control measures, such as canal barriers and retention basins.

“As soon as there is a hotspot, carry out prevention. Canal barriers, retention basins, boreholes. Weather modification operations should be pursued continuously. Water-bombing helicopters on standby,” the president said.

During the meeting, the Riau Regional Disaster Management Agency reported that there were 306 hotspots in the Riau region as of 23 August 2026. Of that number, seven points had become active fires spread across four districts.

Meanwhile, the area of land burned in Riau from January to August 2026 reached 16,277.50 hectares. Of that total, around 900 hectares remain burning at seven points.

The president asked that the handling of the remaining 900 hectares be completed immediately and instructed the deployment of TNI and Polri forces.