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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

Prabowo Considers Merging Indonesia's Geological Agency with BMKG

From CNN Indonesia · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • President Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia may consider integrating the Geological Agency with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency, BMKG.
  • The proposal came during a virtual meeting on disaster response, where officials discussed volcanic activity, wildfires, weather modification and aviation risks.
  • Indonesia has recently faced floods, landslides, drought, a deadly earthquake, wildfires and eruptions in several regions.

President Prabowo Subianto is considering bringing Indonesia's Geological Agency closer to the country's meteorological agency after a succession of disasters across the archipelago.

Prabowo raised the possibility of a merger during a restricted virtual meeting with officials including the home affairs minister, health ministry, National Disaster Management Agency, national police and local governments. "The head of the Geological Agency, I think, will work more closely with the others. We will think about whether the Geological Agency should be integrated with BMKG. But we will discuss it later," he said on Monday, Sept. 7.

BMKG chief Teuku Faisal presented information on a Notice to Mariners restricting ship movement within 3 kilometers of the crater of Mount Anak Krakatau. The restriction followed the Geological Agency's decision to place the volcano at alert level 3.

BMKG also reported coordination with the disaster agency on forest and land fires. The two agencies coordinated weather modification operations planned at Husein Sastranegara Airport before the airport was closed. The work aimed to prevent aircraft engine damage, reduced visibility, disruptions to navigation and aircraft sensors, route changes, and delays in response.

The report described disasters occurring in rapid succession. Flash floods hit parts of Aceh, West Sumatra and North Sumatra in November 2025, followed by floods and landslides in areas from Java to Sulawesi through the end of the 2026 rainy season. Extreme drought then affected several provinces. A magnitude 7 earthquake in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, killed hundreds and destroyed infrastructure. Widespread fires followed, particularly in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java and Papua, before eruptions at Mount Sinabung and Mount Anak Krakatau.

The head of the Geological Agency, I think, will work more closely with the others. We will think about whether the Geological Agency should be integrated with BMKG. But we will discuss it later.

· Prabowo SubiantoThe Indonesian president raised the possibility of integrating the Geological Agency with BMKG during a restricted virtual meeting.
About this summary

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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