“The first is ensuring forest and land fires are extinguished quickly to prevent the smoke from spreading widely, especially to neighboring countries,” he said during a coordination meeting on controlling forest and land fires in Riau, which was held in a hybrid online-offline format, on Wednesday.
To this end, he urged the forest and land fire task force under his coordination to deploy personnel and equipment to handle hotspots.
Second, he directed the Ministry of Forestry to deploy technical teams to restore land affected by the fires.
Furthermore, he directed his staff to audit all concessions in the 21 districts and cities affected by the forest and land fires.
“Fourth, implementing a temporary moratorium on new permits on peatland, at least until the emergency situation ends,” Gunawan said.
He then stressed firm and consistent law enforcement measures by the National Police (Polri) and the Prosecutor’s Office.
Lastly, he called for imposing administrative sanctions on those who are proven to be involved in triggering forest fires.
He then instructed the Forestry Minister to revoke the concessions of parties found to be involved in sparking forest and land fires.
With those efforts, he expressed optimism that forest and land fires in Indonesia can be tackled optimally.
“I am very optimistic that with our commitment and synergy, we will be able to address the current emergency situation,” he said.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 44 people have been named suspects for allegedly burning mineral and peatlands deliberately in Riau during the period from January to July 2025.
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Translator: Walda Marison, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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