Vacant land mostly burnt in Banjarmasin

Kelotok (a traditional boat fitted with motor) passes through Martapura River as it blaketed with smog in Banjarmasin City, South Kalimantan, Thursday (5/9/2019). The city was exposed to smog from fire came from it surrounding areas. (ANTARA PHOTO/Bayu Pratama S/foc)

Here about 20 hectares empty land was burnt, we have difficulties to extinguished it,

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Tens of hectares of land in the area of Banjarmasin City was burnt during the dry season, the city's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) official stated.

The mostly burnt was vacant land, said the Acting Head of the Banjarmasin BPBD H Muhammad Hilmi here on Thursday, adding the location was in North Banjarmasin, precisely in the area of Sungai Biuku, Sungai Andai Urban Village.

"Here about 20 hectares empty land was burnt, we have difficulties to extinguished it," M Hilmi recalled.

It was because the area was mostly thick bush of swampland typical plants.

"We just wonder if the fire came from the forest of bush. So we kept preventing the fire from approacing the community settlement," he told.
Previously in August, he said, fires occured in seven points of vacant land, but the extent was not too large, it was between 1 to 5 hectares.

"The points were scattered in West Banjarmasin, South Banjarmasin, and North Banjarmasin," he continued.

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The three sub-district, he said, still have a large enough vacant land, while only small portion left in central and East Banjarmasin as it mostly become housing complex.

"We have built several command post to anticipate land fire," he affirmed.
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