Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Head of South Kalimantan Police Public Relations Sr Comr Mochamad Rifa'i. (Antara/photo/firman)
The South Kalimantan Regional Police deployed a third of its personnel to combat forest and land fires (karhutla) in the dry season this year.
"We will carry out the karhutla operation immediately, just waiting for the leader's guidance. There are around 500 personnel involved under the coordination of the Regional Police Operations Bureau," Head of South Kalimantan Regional Police PR Dept Sr Comr. Mochamad Rifa'i said here on Wednesday.
Rifa'i admitted that a number of hotspots had indeed emerged. Even so, the burned land did not have time to spread because it was immediately extinguished by officers in the field.
"We continue to coordinate with friends of the South Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the TNI, including volunteers of fire fighters so that the forest fire prevention efforts can be synergized," he explained.
Read also: Central Forest Fire Task Force sends 1,200 personnel to South Kalimantan
The South Kalimantan Regional Police also counts on its app-based "Bekantan" to eradicate karhutla. It is provided for the community so that they quickly give information on the existence of burning land.
Until now there has been no legal action against the perpetrators of the land burning being secured. But Rifa'i ensured his side would not tolerate anyone caught by intentionally clearing land by burning. The sanctions are clearly in the form of imprisonment according to the applicable law.
"Forest fires cause a haze disaster that is very detrimental to all of us. So, not only for the benefit of a party, everyone becomes a victim," he said.
Apart from all the ways to deal with forest fires, Rifa'i inisted the importance of prevention efforts to encourage farmers and plantation companies not to burn land for any reason.
"For this prevention, the role of Bhabinkamtibmas and local police officers is expected to be more proactive during the peak of the dry season. Meet all farmers and companies to be reminded to care for the environment and the rights of others to breathe fresh air without fog smoke, "concluded Rifa'i.
Read also: BMKG: 10 hotspots in South Kalimantan
On the other hand, weather parameter analysis issued by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) showed, land in South Kalimantan has the high potential to burn during the current dry season.
Muhammad Shaaimul Qadri, the Forecaster Staff at the Syamsudin Noor Meteorological Station, said that on Wednesday afternoon there were 3 hotspots observed, two in Daha Utara, South Hulu Sungai District, and one in Kusan Hilir Sub-district, Tanah Bumbu.
"The heavy rain, that occurred on Sunday, made the humidity quite high from 55 to 95 percent. This condition is enough to help reduce the potential of burning land at this time. But if there are no rain in the next few days, then the threat of burning land should be watched out," he explained .
Based on Antara's monitoring on Wednesday afternoon, one helicopter performed "water bombing" on a number of burned land in Banjarbaru City and Banjar Regency.
Previously, South Kalimantan BPBD revealed there were 7 regions in the province whose status of forest fire emergency alert, namely Banjarbaru City, Tanah Laut, Barito Kuala, Banjar, Tapin, South Hulu Sungai, and Balangan Regency.
The karhutla prone area is the priority for the placement of the central Forest and Land Fire Task Force (Satgas) personnel commanded by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) when deployed to South Kalimantan. // photo: South Kalimantan Regional Police ///
