Jakarta: The government spent Rp1 trillion for fighting wildfires on peatlands in South Sumatra province last year, Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB) Lt. Gen. Doni Monardo said on Tuesday.
In view of the high cost, he felt it is necessary to familiarize the public with the effort to preempt wildfires
It is better to prevent wildfires by familiarizing people nearby on how to tackle fires before they inflict losses worth hundreds of billions of rupiahs, he added.
The Rp1 trillion was spent on preventing smoke from reaching South Sumatra, which hosted the Asian Games in 2018, he remarked.
He stated that the smoke disaster that happened in 2015 did not recur in 2018.
It is better to distribute the fund to nearby people rather than spend it on fighting wildfires, he revealed.
The government recently deployed 10 helicopters and a Cassa aircraft to extinguish forest and land fires in Riau Province.
The aerial fire-fighting efforts to put out the wildfires were supported by BNPB, the Environmental Affairs and Forestry Ministry (KLHK), Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), Indonesian Police (Polri), and local private plantation companies.
Of the 10 helicopters, one Kamov KA-32 and a Mi8-MTV helicopter are from the BNPB, one Bell 412 helicopter from KLHK, one Puma and a Bell 412 helicopter from TNI, and a Bell 429 helicopter from Polri.
Since January 2019, wildfires have gutted a total area of 1,761 hectares in Riau's coastal region.
Indonesia is blessed with fertile soil and various natural resources, but concurrently, the country is prone to natural disasters, as it is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where numerous volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunami waves occur.
During the period from January to mid-December last year, a total of 2,572 natural disasters had hit the country, leaving at least 4,821 people dead or missing, according to the government data. (Antara)
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