Forest and land fires.

progresifjaya.co.id, JAKARTA – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is urged to take the handling of massive forest and land fires (karhutla) with the utmost seriousness. He is expected to promptly exercise his authority to maximize the use of the budget for addressing these fires.

As is known, these fires are currently occurring not only in Kalimantan but also on the island of Sumatra and in the Semeru region of East Java.

The impact extends beyond harming public health in Indonesia; the fires are now also affecting communities in neighboring countries such as Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

These views emerged during a weekly discussion held by the National Journalists Forum (FWK) in Jakarta on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 2, 2026.

The discussion, moderated by FWK National Coordinator Raja Parlindungan Pane, was attended by a number of senior journalists, editors, and editors-in-chief.

Attendees included Budi Nugraha, Teguh Santosa, Mohammad Nasir, HM Untung Kurniadi, Iqbal Irsyad, Herwan Pebriansyah, Berman Nainggolan, Dadang Rahmat, Simon Siahaan, AR Loebis, Sigit Setiyono, Tjandra Amin, Erwiyantoro, Rudi Sitompul, Ari Rahman, and Mukhsin.

The discussion highlighted how the fires are increasingly compromising public health and disrupting land and air travel due to smoke.

Visibility for motorists and pilots—such as in Palangkaraya—has been severely restricted by the smoke from the fires, making travel difficult as the human eye struggles to see clearly into the distance.

This situation has also caused flight schedule disruptions at Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangkaraya.

“Forest and land fires in Kalimantan not only damage the environment but also harm human health and cause a decline in the population of animals that constitute Kalimantan’s natural wealth,” said Hendry Ch. Bangun, a founder of FWK who was present at the discussion.

Meanwhile, senior journalist Untung Kurniadi suspects that the government has failed to adequately address these forest and land fires. The proof, he argues, lies in the fact that the massive fires sweeping across Kalimantan remain unresolved despite having raged for days.

In contrast, Teguh Santosa, Chairman of the Indonesian Cyber ​​Media Network (JMSI), believes the Prabowo administration has made a maximum effort to intervene and tackle the fires, though the obstacles involved are immense.

For instance, when helicopters were deployed to seed clouds with salt to induce artificial rain and extinguish the fires, the wind suddenly pushed the clouds elsewhere.

“There are indeed many challenges in handling these fires; controlling fires on peatlands is extremely difficult,” said Teguh Santosa.

In today’s democratic era, he continued, people are free to evaluate the government’s performance, including its handling of forest and land fires.

“People might say there is no action from the government. It is not that there is no action, but rather that there are many obstacles on the ground,” Teguh stated.

Raja Parlindungan Pane also acknowledged that the government has taken action to address the fires.

“Mr. Prabowo has repeatedly paid attention to the fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Numerous teleconferences have even been held,” said Raja.

Raja Pane also agreed with Hendry Ch. Bangun’s call for the immediate release of budget funds—or emergency funds—to handle the fires.

“The President has the authority to increase the budget so that the fire crisis can be brought to an end quickly,” Raja Pane asserted.

VOI Editor-in-Chief Iqbal Irsyad also expressed the view that central emergency funds should be utilized immediately to enable the implementation of the President’s policies regarding the fires.

Ristianto Pribadi, Head of the Public Relations and Foreign Cooperation Bureau at the Ministry of Forestry, as quoted by Kompas acknowledged, that fires are still burning in many locations. Satellite monitoring also indicates the continued presence of numerous hotspots. 

Hotspots are concentrated in Kalimantan, with 455 detected; approximately 308 of these are located in West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, while the remainder are in Sumatera.

At least 93 forest and land fire incidents have been recorded across 12 provinces. Fires at 33 locations have been extinguished, while 60 others are currently being suppressed.

Throughout 2026, a total of 4.801 forest and land fire response operations were recorded, covering an area of ​​38.829,46 hectares.

Fire suppression efforts involved ground operations, water bombing, aerial patrols, and weather modification operations, supported by 30 helicopters in Kalimantan and 22 in Sumatera. (Bembo)