President calls for more drones and equipment to prevent forest and land fires
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto said he will allocate more aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) to carry out mitigation and prevention of forest and land fires (karhutla) across the country.
At a Limited Meeting on the Progress of Natural Disaster Management, monitored online from Jakarta on Monday, President Prabowo stated that the government’s response to forest and land fires this year had been fairly massive, although there were still records of delays on several occasions.
“Going forward, we will take anticipatory steps. I ask that our thinking in planning uses the principle of better more than less,” the President explained.
Prabowo asked Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi to inform Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa and Minister of National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Rachmat Pambudy to increase defence equipment, such as helicopters, firefighting equipment such as water pumps, and supporting equipment such as excavators to support prevention and extinguishing efforts.
In particular, small-sized prevention and firefighting equipment could be placed in villages located in areas with a history of recurring forest and land fires.
The Head of State touched on the fact that Indonesia will soon have its first aircraft carrier, which will be utilised for disaster management.
The aircraft carrier is capable of carrying ten medium-sized helicopters, which can be used to transport 4-5 tonnes of water for handling forest and land fires.
“Then we must allocate more aircraft for weather modification. Furthermore, BRIN must study which substances are most efficient for accelerating weather modification, and then we must procure drones that can drop water,” the President said.
Prabowo referred to drones capable of carrying large quantities of water that could be positioned on the front lines of forest and land fire response efforts.
“So, our preparations to tackle and mitigate should not wait for incidents to happen; we must prepare long before they occur,” said Prabowo Subianto.