West Java Acting Governor Bey Triadi Machmudin stated here on Wednesday that during the peak of the current dry season, land fires have occurred in several spots.
In order to tackle the incidents, he remarked that the West Java Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has kept monitoring and conducting mitigation efforts in order to prevent widespread burned areas due to negligence.
"We are monitoring every aspect and issued an appeal not to smoke on land, especially on dry ones. The point is that we have paid attention to the drought, including in remote lands, and it is under control," Machmudin stated.
Meanwhile, Machmudin said that his side will enforce strict actions on perpetrators found to have started forest or land fires.
"There must be strict actions. I have coordinated with the Regional Police Chief and the District Military Commander to command its members to supervise and move together with the BPBD," the acting governor remarked.
Related news: Peak of dry season sparking land, forest fires: Minister
Furthermore, to help more than half of West Java's residents experiencing a water crisis, the provincial government has distributed 11 million liters of clean water for them.
"There were 11 million liters of clean water distributed to several regions," he remarked.
Earlier, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) estimated that this year's dry season is likely to last until the end of October, and the rainy season would start in stages in early November.
The BMKG noted that several regions will enter the rainy season before November, while some areas will experience rains later than November. Nevertheless, it will start raining in most regions in November.
Related news: Water sources key to handling forest, land fires: Deputy Minister
Translator: Ricky P, Kenzu
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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