President Prabowo Appreciates Synergy on Riau Forest, Land Fires Management

President Prabowo Subianto Monday (08/04) expressed appreciation for the synergy among all parties involved in tackling forest and land fires in Riau province.

“I am truly pleased to see how all of you handling this. I think this is something good that we should take note of and share with other regions as an example of how to handle such incidents. Your preventive measures have also been quite good,” President Prabowo said in his remarks at the Riau Province Forward Command Post.

The Head of State said the cooperation among various elements was key to addressing forest and land fires.

“The National Defense Forces, the National Police, the BPBD (Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency), all lines, all elements, whether from the regional governments or the civilian, are all in motion. This is what we want. I thank you, and I am proud to see this effort being carried out,” he added.

On the occasion, Riau Police Chief Inspector General Herry Heryawan outlined various measures that had been taken, both through law enforcement and preventive approaches. He said the Riau Police had adopted a multi-door approach and installed law-enforcement warning signs at locations affected by previous fires.

“Alhamdulillah, now that we have installed permanent signs, areas that have previously been burned will no longer be planted,” the Riau Police Chief said.

In addition to law enforcement, the synergy has also been manifested through the development of forest and land fire control infrastructure. Prevention efforts have also been strengthened through public education, community involvement down to the village level, joint patrols, preparedness roll calls, educational banners, and environmental restoration programs.

“We also issued an official directive. Usually, such directives are issued by the police chief solely for law enforcement purposes. But last year, we invited the regional leadership coordination forum (Forkopimda), including the governor, to jointly issue a directive on preventing forest and land fires,” Herry said.

President Prabowo stressed that the Government will continue to support the needs of fire management efforts in the field, including additional water-bombing helicopters and oxygen supplies.

“Whatever we can help with, we will help,” the President remarked.

President Prabowo’s appreciation underscored that tackling forest and land fires cannot rely solely on extinguishing fires once they emerge, but requires a collective effort focused on prevention, preparedness, law enforcement, and sustained community involvement. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (GWH/MMB)