"The intensity of firefighting efforts must be increased to resolve the forest and land fires in Rokan Hilir as quickly as possible," he noted in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Based on direct inspections and aerial monitoring, Nurofiq found fires burning in extremely dry peatlands with minimal access to water sources.
The aerial monitoring covered fire-prone areas including Bangko Pusako, Kubu, Kubu Babussalam, Simpang Kanan, and Pasir Limau Kapas sub-districts.
Hotspots were also detected in production and limited production forests, which are vulnerable to the massive spread of fires.
In response to this situation, the Ministry of Environment continues to strengthen coordination with various parties, including the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the National Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), and local governments, to increase the speed and effectiveness of the response.
The number of hotspots in Rokan Hillir has surged to 354, with nine active fire locations as of July 20, 2025, making the district the region with the highest number of forest and land fire incidents in Riau.
As part of the emergency response, five waterbombing helicopters from the BNPB have been deployed.
By mid-July of 2025, some 594 waterbombing sorties had been flown, delivering a total of 2.37 million liters of water.
Additionally, a weather modification operation was resumed on July 21, 2025, targeting Rokan Hilir and its surrounding areas using one thousand kilograms of NaCl for cloud seeding.
The Ministry of Environment also urged the local governments to expedite firefighting efforts, maintain close monitoring of the situation, and ensure consistent and sustainable synergy with various parties.
Minister Nurofiq also emphasized that forest and land fire handling should be prioritized within environmental governance that is fair, sustainable, and responsive to the climate crisis.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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