"The threat of forest and land fires is much lower than the previous years," the ministry's Director General of Law Enforcement, Rasio Ridho Sani, stated during an FGD session with the Indonesian Ombudsman in Jakarta on Thursday.
According to Sani, the number of forest and land fire cases that often occur in Sumatra and Kalimantan had decreased due to strict supervision by the government.
When the most severe forest and land fires hit in 2014-2015, the government at that time immediately applied firm policies and took actions to handle it, he noted.
“During forest and land fires in the past, people would be worried about flying because many planes were delayed. We also received protests from Singapore due to the fire," Sani remarked.
These firm actions comprised deploying a team to constantly conduct satellite monitoring of hotspots with the potential to cause forest and land fires, he explained.
Sani stated that if there is an indication of a hotspot, then the team will immediately send a warning letter to the related companies that have permits to operate on related land.
"To date, we have sent around 140 to 150 warning letters," he remarked.
In addition, the team from the ministry continues to monitor the hotspots and would take further action if companies did not follow up on the warning letter.
"Now, we have sealed approximately 15 companies," he remarked.
Sani noted that his side was able to reduce the potential for forest and land fires from the 2016-2018 period. However, the number of forests and land fires slightly increased in 2019 and decreased in 2020 until now.
He stated that the ministry continues this forest and land fire handling with the local government, fire brigade, the national police, and the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI).
"Hopefully, in 2023, the condition will not get worse than the previous year, and we can handle quickly any forest and land case," he said.
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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul H, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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