According to Suharyanto here on Friday, water bombing to handle forest and land fires will continue to be conducted, especially in tackling burning remote spots that are unreachable by the fire handling task force on land.
The forest and land fires in South Kalimantan mostly occur on unowned lands. When the land burns, no one wants to be responsible, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, most unowned lands are located in regions that are difficult to reach by the land task force. To that end, Suharyanto emphasized that the BNPB would increase its fleet of water-bombing helicopters to solve this problem.
"The helicopters will fly to South Kalimantan from Java," he remarked.
During the coordination meeting at the South Kalimantan Governor's Office on Thursday (September 21), Suharyanto reiterated the importance of efforts to deal with forest and land fires both from land and air.
He explained that fire extinguishing and cooling efforts via land are effective, as the joint team can directly reach the fire spots.
The land task force can also ensure that the fire has been fully put out, so it will not start again, he remarked.
"They must be very vigilant and careful, so that the fire does not get bigger and wider," Suharyanto emphasized.
The BNPB chief also noted that the weather modification technology can also be implemented to help deal with forest and land fires, albeit after taking into account all factors.
He noted that the weather modification operation can only be conducted when the rain cloud growth reaches 40 percent and above. Below that, the operation is likely to fail.
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Translator: Devi R, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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