TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The joint firefighting task force consisting of members of the Indonesian Army (TNI), the Police, Kotawaringin Regency's Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) are facing a lot of difficulties in extinguishing the fires that are razing swathes of the province's peatlands.
The Commander of the Task Force, Lt. Col. Inf. I Gde Putra Yasa, said in Sampit on Saturday, August 27, 2016 that fires have been reported at the districts of Pulau Hanaut and Teluk Sampit - but attempts to extinguish the fires have been slowed by the rough terrain in the area and the lack of accessible water.
Putra Yasa - who is also the Commander of Sampit's 1015 Military District Command - said that his officers are focusing on areas that are more easily accessible. "We have also put in a request for some water bombing aircrafts to assist with the efforts," he said.
As of Saturday, August 27, 2016, water bombing have been done 13 times across the area. In the two aforementioned districts, there are at least 12 hotspots - 2 in Pulau Hanaut and 10 in Teluk Sampit.
"Throughout August 2016, there are at least 75 reported hotspots - 17 of which are located in East Kotawaringin," said Putra Yasa.
ANTARA