Deputy Minister of Forestry Rohmat Marzuki said that to address the possibility of an earlier dry season, his office, along with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and the private sector, will conduct land rewetting through Weather Modification Operations (OMC).
“The OMC requires a significant budget and must be carried out routinely. Therefore, we have created a timeline that requires no fewer than 35 OMC operations this year,” he said on Monday.
According to Marzuki, the OMC schedule was prepared following a warning from BMKG of a drier and longer dry season this year compared to 2025.
BMKG has also warned of the potential onset of El Niño, which was previously forecast for 2027 but is now expected to occur in mid-2026 and is projected to be of weak to moderate intensity.
Regarding the budget, Marzuki said the OMC will be conducted in collaboration with BNPB and involve the private sector, particularly holders of Forest Utilization Business Permits (PBPH).
Meanwhile, the ministry’s Director General of Law Enforcement, Dwi Januanto Nugroho, said that given the prolonged El Niño conditions, OMC operations could be effectively implemented for 10–12 days, with two sorties or flights conducted daily. The budget for each operation could reach Rp2.3–2.5 billion (US$131 thousand–US$143 thousand).
The operations will be carried out across provincial administrative areas, particularly in regions that are typically prone to forest and land fires.
“Each operation will cover one provincial administrative area, with a focus on districts and cities where large-scale forest and land fires have previously occurred,” Nugroho said.
Previously, BMKG predicted that the 2026 dry season in Sumatra would begin gradually in May in northern Aceh, parts of North Sumatra, southeastern Riau, parts of Jambi, central South Sumatra, and Lampung.
The dry season is expected to expand in June to most parts of Aceh, West Sumatra, Riau, central Jambi, parts of Bengkulu, and South Sumatra.
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Translator: Prisca Triferna, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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