Forest Fires: West and Central Kalimantan Prioritized as Hotspots Surge

JAKARTA - The Minister of Forestry (Menhut), Raja Juli Antoni, said that the trend of forest and land fires (karhutla) in West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan had again increased after previously decreasing, making the two provinces a top priority for handling. 'After yesterday, all 6 provinces whose priority trends fell, but today West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan showed hotspots that increased again. This means that the main priority now nationally remains West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan,' said Minister of Finance Raja Antoni in a statement received in Jakarta, Wednesday. After reviewing the hutla in Jambi today, the Minister of Home Affairs, Raja Antoni, said that he and the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Lieutenant General TNI Suharyanto, would go to Pontianak to strengthen coordination with all stakeholders in West Kalimantan involving the Governor, Police Chief, and Commander. 'Therefore, tomorrow we will go to Pontianak to meet again with all stakeholders, with the Governor, the Police Chief, the Commander, to close ranks again, to evaluate and make plans for what we can do to mitigate,' said Menhut. The coordination was carried out to encourage the reduction of hotspots or fire spots that have been verified. Menhut Raja Antoni reminded that the handling of forest fires still requires mutual vigilance. He said that the peak of El Nino in September, so there needs to be cooperation from various parties in the prevention and handling of forest fires. Based on data from the Ministry of Forestry's Sipongi as of September 1, 2026, the hotspots in West Kalimantan from the previous 273 points became 859, Central Kalimantan from 253 to 623, South Sumatra from 20 to 89, South Kalimantan from 22 to 73, Riau remained at position 0, while Jambi from 0 to 4 points. hotspot.