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East Kalimantan land fires exceed 1,260 hectares, mostly on company property
🇮🇩 Indonesia /Environment & Climate

East Kalimantan land fires exceed 1,260 hectares, mostly on company property

From CNN Indonesia · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Ongoing story
  • Over 1,260 hectares of land have burned in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, across 430 incidents, with the majority affecting company-owned plantations.
  • Kutai Kartanegara regency has the largest affected area, with 366.70 hectares burned, primarily consisting of plantations and residential land.
  • The provincial government is preparing to upgrade the disaster status from "alert" to "emergency alert" due to the increasing number of fires.

East Kalimantan, Indonesia, is grappling with a significant land and forest fire crisis, with over 1,260 hectares scorched across 430 incidents as of the past weekend. The majority of the affected areas are reportedly owned by companies, highlighting a persistent issue in the region.

What is currently burning is mostly on land.

— Sugeng PriyantoSugeng Priyanto, acting head of the BPBD's Emergency and Logistics Division, describes the nature of the current land and forest fires.

Data from the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of East Kalimantan indicates that out of the total burned area, 1,197.37 hectares are classified as land, 32.84 hectares as forest, and 30.71 hectares as plantation. Sugeng Priyanto, acting head of the BPBD's Emergency and Logistics Division, stated that most of the current fires are on land, including plantations and residential areas.

The Kutai Kartanegara (Kukar) regency has recorded the largest area of land fires, with 366.70 hectares affected. Other heavily impacted areas include Kutai Barat (337.17 hectares), Paser (268.68 hectares), Samarinda (90 hectares), and Berau (86.44 hectares).

The areas that burned include plantations and residents' land, but the largest portion is company-owned land.

— Sugeng PriyantoSugeng Priyanto clarifies the ownership of the land affected by the fires.

In response to the escalating situation, the East Kalimantan provincial government is preparing to elevate the disaster status from "alert" to "emergency alert." This move involves issuing a decree to formalize the heightened response. While some regencies are already at the emergency alert level, Paser is considering upgrading its status further to "disaster response."

For the province, the first stage is the determination of the initial status, which is disaster alert.

— Sugeng PriyantoSugeng Priyanto explains the current disaster status in East Kalimantan.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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