TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head of Weather Modification Technology Center (TMC) at the Assessment and Application of Technology Agency (BPPT), Tri Handoko Seto, said that the cloud seeding program which was aimed at extinguishing land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan has spent Rp2 billion within a week. As of date, the agency has given a total budget of Rp10 billion.

“It costs Rp2 billion a week, but we have been provided for Rp10 billion. The remaining is still high,” said Seto in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry building, Tuesday, September 24.

He explained the budget was earmarked from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). “So BPPT teamed up with BNPB to carry out this event at cost budget.”

According to Seto, the budget was considerably low as it was only used to purchase airplane’s avtur and salts for the weather modification as well as to pay the labor who executed the program. “It [the budget] is not costly because all materials used are state properties.”

The TMC head further reiterated that the agency is still operating four aircraft every day; two Casa C-212 and two CN-295. “The rain finally falls in Kalimantan with a significant volume at 70 million meter cubic,” Seto claimed.

He expressed optimism that the TMC could solve the land and forest fires in mid-October. “Natural rains will fall in the middle of October, so I’m optimistic [the fires] will be diminished [before it],” said Seto.

EKO WAHYUDI