Reopening of Bromo tourist access depends on security conditions

The reopening of access to the Mount Bromo tourist area will depend on developments in the security situation on the ground, according to Colonel Inf Wahyu Ramadhanus Suryawan, Commander of the Forest and Land Fire (Karhutla) Handling Sector for Korem 083/Baladhika Jaya.

Wahyu, speaking through a press statement received in Malang, East Java, on Sunday, said that reopening access to the Mount Bromo tourist area would only be recommended once monitoring results no longer found any fire hotspots or smoke.

“We hope tourism can resume soon, but of course only after an assessment has been carried out and the area has been confirmed to be truly safe. We are ready to provide recommendations to the relevant parties, including the Head of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) Agency, based on the factual conditions on the ground,” said Wahyu, who is also Commander of Korem 083/Baladhika Jaya.

He stated that tourism activities in the Bromo area affected by the forest and land fires are currently still temporarily closed.

“Our principle is safety and government credibility. We must not declare the area safe and then have fire hotspots reappear,” he said.

Meanwhile, Head of the TNBTS Agency Rudijanta Tjahja Nugraha said he was still waiting for information from the forest and land fire handling task force regarding the latest developments in Bromo, which would be used as material for recommending the reopening of the area.

He confirmed that once the security recommendation for the area is received, his office will conduct further checks and monitoring of the readiness of tourism facilities and infrastructure there.