JAKARTA: Thick smoke from Indonesia’s forest fires has grounded firefighting aircraft in Central Kalimantan for about a week, leaving crews struggling to contain blazes threatening one of the world’s best-known orangutan habitats.
Firefighters are also battling difficult swampy terrain and equipment shortages as fires spread across more than 500ha of the Tanjung Puting National Park area and surrounding parts of West Kotawaringin and Seruyan regencies, according to details that emerged following a high-level meeting chaired by President Prabowo Subianto and attended by disaster and security officials on Monday (Oct 12).
Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya disclosed the details on Oct 13, including an account by regional military commander Major-General Zainul Arifin, who told Prabowo that visibility around the park had fallen to just 500m, preventing civilian aircraft from conducting water-bombing operations.
The fires have blanketed parts of South-East Asia in haze, disrupting flights, forcing school closures and raising public health concerns.
Offers of firefighting assistance from Singapore and Malaysia were not discussed at the meeting, according to officials.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Suharyanto told the meeting that 639.23ha of land remained ablaze across six priority provinces as at Oct 12, out of nearly 130,000ha burned cumulatively.
“In Central Kalimantan in particular, water-bombing helicopters have been unable to fly for about a week because of poor visibility,” he said.
With aircraft unable to operate from Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan’s capital, and Banjarmasin in neighbouring South Kalimantan, firefighters have had to rely heavily on ground operations. Weather modification flights intended to encourage rainfall and commercial flights have also been affected.
According to Teddy, more than 60,177 personnel have been deployed in ground operations, with an average of more than 80 per cent of newly burned land extinguished each day.
Tanjung Puting, on Borneo island, is a major conservation area known internationally for its orangutans and rainforest tourism.
Describing the challenges facing firefighters, Zainul said: “The locations are very scattered, and the terrain is swampy.”
“It is not just orangutans there. There are still many dangerous animals, including crocodiles and snakes. So we have to be careful when entering these areas.”
Zainul said 247 foreign tourists were visiting the park on Oct 12, while it had received 66,000 foreign visitors so far this year.
Firefighting teams were being organised with local disaster management officials, police and regional authorities to ensure personnel could enter the affected areas safely, but they faced shortages of essential equipment.
Zainul said some portable pumps previously supplied to the province were still being used to cool areas where fires had been extinguished. Additional pumps were difficult to obtain locally and sometimes had to be brought from Java.
When Prabowo asked how many were needed, the commander said 50 would be sufficient. “I will send 200,” Prabowo replied.
Zainul also raised the need for water-drilling teams to help extinguish fires in areas inaccessible to vehicles. He added groundwater could be reached at depths of about 10m to 15m, with each drilling point costing around 10 million rupiah (S$715).
“Ten million per point?” Prabowo asked. After receiving confirmation, he replied: “Okay, I will send two billion rupiah, for 200 points.”
The commander said local residents could be recruited to help drill the wells.
Zainul also raised the possibility of using military aircraft for water bombing, saying private operators required visibility of about 5,000m, while military crews had previously flown under more restricted conditions.
Prabowo instructed military and police officials to coordinate their aviation personnel.
Beyond the immediate firefighting operations, Prabowo reiterated his request for 70,000 forest police officers to strengthen protection of Indonesia’s forests, suggesting that the police and military could help train them.
He also called for fire prevention and mitigation measures to begin at the village level, drawing on advice from university experts.
Prabowo stressed that extinguishing the remaining fires was an immediate priority, but preventing future outbreaks would require a much broader effort.
“Our strategy must be massive, comprehensive, wide-ranging and preventive,” he said. - The Straits Times/ANN
