Prabowo orders officials to keep forest fires away from IKN core zone

President Prabowo Subianto ordered officials to prevent forest and land fires from reaching the core zone of Indonesia’s Nusantara Capital City, or IKN, in East Kalimantan.

“We must not let the fires reach the core zone,” Prabowo said during a hybrid limited meeting on disaster management at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on 7 September. He urged officials to deploy key assets before the flames could spread further.

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We also need to pay close attention to fires near the IKN.

Prabowo asked the National Disaster Management Agency, BNPB, to coordinate with the Indonesian National Armed Forces over the positioning of heavy military transport helicopters. He said he would discuss the deployment of Chinook helicopters with armed forces commander General Agus Subiyanto.

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We must not let the fires reach the core zone.

BNPB head Lieutenant General Suharyanto reported that 458 hectares inside the Bukit Soeharto Grand Forest Park were burning. Emergency teams were working to contain the blaze with help from a ground task force, he said.

Suharyanto also reported that burned land across West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Riau, South Sumatra and Jambi had reached a cumulative 72,008 hectares by 7 September. The total area extinguished across the affected regions stood at 71,274.29 hectares.

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In the IKN area, inside Bukit Soeharto, 458 hectares are burning; this is still being handled with assistance from the ground task force.