Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) praised all parties involved in the efforts to fight forest and land fires in several provinces in the country.

"We highly laud all parties that have taken part in the efforts to fight land fires," he stated here on Wednesday.

President Jokowi visited Banjarbaru and personally inspected the fire situation in Guntung Damar in the village of Guntung Payung, Landasan Ulin.

The hard work put in by the provincial and district governments as well as personnel from the military (TNI)/police was a concrete action taken to overcome the fires, the president remarked.

In view of this, their hard work must be lauded, and it is hoped that the fires could be overcome and would not occur in future, he emphasized.

"Every day, I monitor the firefighting efforts and see that all have worked hard, and the results are visible by a decline in the number of fires," he pointed out.

"Not only hundreds but tens of thousands of hectares of land across Indonesia has been burnt down, and so, all parties must work together to help overcome them," Jokowi remarked

Fires in the past month in the country have led to haze, which has disrupted activities of the people and also flights and flight schedules.

President Jokowi was accompanied by First Lady Iriana, Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Education Minister Baswedan, TNI Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo, and Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency Willem Rampangilei.

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Reporting by Yose Rizal

(H-YH/INE)

EDITED BY INE.

Editor: Suryanto
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