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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

Indonesia Prepares for Early El Nino Arrival, Boosts Disaster Mitigation

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • President Prabowo Subianto convened a meeting to discuss preparations for potential extreme weather linked to El Nino and enhance disaster mitigation.
  • El Nino, typically occurring every four years, is now forecast by BMKG to arrive earlier in 2026, raising concerns about forest fires and drought.
  • The government is implementing measures including controlling fire hotspots, hydrating peatlands, maintaining food reserves, and deploying water pumps to support agriculture.

President Prabowo Subianto led a limited cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 28, to address Indonesia's preparedness for potential extreme weather events associated with the El Nino phenomenon and to bolster disaster mitigation strategies. The meeting included ministers and heads of government agencies responsible for forestry, agriculture, infrastructure, research, and weather monitoring.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni highlighted the government's focus on El Nino's potential impacts, noting that the climate phenomenon, characterized by warmer Pacific Ocean surface temperatures, can reduce rainfall in Indonesia. While El Nino historically occurs every four years, with previous occurrences in 2015, 2019, and 2023, forecasts from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) suggest an earlier arrival in 2026, rather than the expected 2027.

El Nino usually occurs every four years. It happened in 2015, then in 2019 and 2023. It should have occurred again next year, in 2027.

— Raja Juli AntoniThe Forestry Minister explained the historical cycle of El Nino and the updated forecast.

A primary concern is the heightened risk of forest and land fires due to prolonged dry conditions. Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono emphasized the need to control fire hotspots and maintain adequate hydration in peatlands to prevent large-scale fires. His ministry will coordinate with BMKG on measures to counter extreme weather and fires, potentially including weather modification operations.

We must ensure that fire hotspots can be controlled effectively, and peatlands must remain wet.

— Agus Harimurti YudhoyonoThe Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development stressed the importance of fire prevention measures.

Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman addressed the potential impacts on agricultural production, acknowledging the possibility of limited crop failures but assuring that national food supplies would remain stable. Mitigation measures include maintaining sufficient food reserves and installing 100,000 water pumps across various regions to assist agricultural areas facing water shortages.

The meeting also included key officials such as BMKG Head Teuku Faisal Fathani, National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Chief Air Marshal Mohammad Syafii, and National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Head Arif Satria, underscoring the comprehensive, multi-agency approach to disaster preparedness.

There may be small failures, but they will not affect the national food stock.

— Amran SulaimanThe Agriculture Minister reassured the public about national food security despite potential crop failures.
DistantNews Editorial

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

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