Public Works Ministry increases canal blocks to tackle forest and land fires in South Kalimantan

The Ministry of Public Works is increasing the number of canal blocks and helping to clear irrigation channels to tackle forest and land fires in South Kalimantan, particularly in Banjarbaru.

“We have deployed heavy equipment to build canal blocks at the points where land has burned,” said Roy Rizali Anwar, Director General of Highways at the Ministry of Public Works, in Banjarbaru on Monday.

He said the Kalimantan III River Basin Agency in Banjarmasin has provided optimal assistance by sending pump machines and clearing the Riam Kanan irrigation channels.

The effort aims to ensure that fire-prone land can be saturated and that water sources are sufficient for firefighting.

“The available retention basins have also been dredged and their water channels cleared because they serve as the main water source for water bombing helicopters,” he explained.

Moreover, the peatland in the Banjarbaru area that has caught fire is extremely difficult to extinguish if it relies only on surface watering.

“That is why we need saturation, and the most effective approach is to submerge the peatland so that it remains below the water surface,” he said.

The Director General of Highways inspected the forest and land fire mitigation efforts in the ring 1 area of Syamsudin Noor International Airport in Banjarbaru, which he assessed as being quite effective.

This is evidenced by the decreasing spread of fire hotspots and the smoke haze no longer being as thick as in previous days.