Palembang (ANTARA) - The government spent Rp1 trillion for fighting wildfires on peatlands in South Sumatra province last year, Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB) Lt. Gen. Doni Monardo said on Tuesday.

In view of the high cost, he felt it was necessary to familiarize the public with the effort to preempt wildfires

It is better to prevent wildfires by familiarizing people nearby on how to tackle fires before they inflict losses worth hundreds of billions of rupiahs, he added.

The Rp1 trillion was spent on preventing smoke from reaching South Sumatra, which hosted the Asian Games in 2018, he remarked.

He stated that the smoke disaster that happened in 2015 did not recur in 2018.

It is better to distribute the fund to nearby people rather than spend it on fighting wildfires, he revealed.

Reporting by Ujang Idrus, Suharto
EDITED BY INE

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