Prabowo Warns Forest Fires Must Not Reach IKN

President Prabowo Subianto has warned that forest and land fires in Kalimantan must not spread into the core zone of IKN, Indonesia’s planned capital. He issued the warning after hearing a report from National Disaster Management Agency chief Suharyanto during a virtual limited meeting on Monday, Sept. 7.

"The fires near IKN must also receive attention. We may need to deploy more assets so the fires do not reach the core zone," Prabowo said.

Suharyanto reported that fires were still affecting six priority provinces: Riau, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Sumatra and Jambi. West Kalimantan had the largest area of burned land among those provinces. BNPB and other agencies continued efforts to extinguish the fires.

Fires were also reported in East Kalimantan, outside the priority-province grouping, including within the IKN area. Suharyanto said 458 hectares there had burned and remained under firefighting operations.

The BNPB chief said authorities had deployed ground and air task forces. Ground teams remained the mainstay because weather conditions often disrupted aerial operations. Although fires had been extinguished across much of the six priority provinces, smoke continued to emerge from peatlands, allowing fresh flames to appear.

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The fires near IKN must also receive attention. We may need to deploy more assets so the fires do not reach the core zone.