"In early this year, several hotspots have been detected, and there have been fire incidents, though they are still in a small scale," the agency's head, Falery Tuwan, noted.
Based on reports from district and city governments until February 9, 2023, there had been 38 forest and land fires in Central Kalimantan, he said.
These forest and land fires were recorded to have occurred in South Barito (4), North Barito (9), Katingan (2), Palangka Raya (2), West Kotawaringin (6), East Kotawaringin (10), Lamandau (1), and Sukamara (5).
"In relation to this, we ask districts/cities to prepare and take preventive measures," he remarked.
Related stakeholders in the districts and cities, including the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency as well as military and police units, should be ready for conducting forest and land fire prevention and mitigation efforts.
According to Tuwan, the district and city governments should intensify routine patrols in vulnerable areas and prepare human resources, facilities, and infrastructures needed in forest and land fire prevention and mitigation efforts.
The district and city governments should also intensify dissemination of information to raise residents' awareness to help prevent forest and land fires.
Earlier, the Peat and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM), in cooperation with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), have prepared efforts to prevent peatland fire through weather modification technology.
This activity is expected to increase water reserve through the creation of artificial rain, Head of BRGM Hartono during an opinion hearing meeting on Monday.
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Translator: M Arif Hidayat, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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