Suharyanto stated here on Wednesday that the BNPB strives to control forest and land fires in six priority provinces that are vulnerable to forest and land fires, including South Sumatra.
"It has been checked that there is indeed a fire, but the report that the smoke is extraordinary and can disturb or cross into the territories of neighboring countries is false," he remarked.
He said that fires in most of the burnt lands in South Sumatra had been extinguished while admitting that it was still difficult to handle some remote points.
"With water bombing support, fire escalation can be handled," he remarked.
While conducting an aerial inspection, the BNPB reported that several abandoned lands were burned.
"The cultivated lands are relatively safe and not burned, while (most of the) burned lands were the abandoned ones. We need to convey this data after arriving in Jakarta," he stated.
Suharyanto stated that aerial and land fire prevention efforts had also been conducted.
"Massive fire extinguishing has been done by water bombing helicopters," he stated.
He noted that the BNPB will coordinate with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to apply weather modification technology to speed up the fire extinguishing process.
"We have coordinated with BMKG to produce (artificial) rain with weather modification technology if the water bombing is not optimal," he noted.
He ensured that the current forest and land fires in South Sumatra would not affect neighboring countries like the one a few years ago.
"In general, it is under control, even though there is smoke in the current conditions, I emphasize that it is not as big as the previous year's incidents," he remarked.
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Translator: Devi R, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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