President Prabowo Promotes Breakthrough in Response to Fires

President Prabowo Subianto urged government officials to continue pursuing innovations in tackling forest and land fires, including developing alternative firefighting agents. The President made the statement while chairing a meeting on forest and land fire management at the Main Post of the South Sumatra Forest and Land Fire Task Force in Palembang on Monday (08/24).

During the meeting, President Prabowo emphasized that the remaining approximately 1,900 hectares of burnt land in South Sumatra should be extinguished as soon as possible. The President instructed relevant officials to evaluate any challenges encountered in the area and immediately submit requests for additional support if assistance from the central government is needed.

“In that case, I emphasize that we should make every effort to extinguish the remaining 1,900 hectares as soon as possible. Whatever obstacles you encounter in the field, evaluate them, and if additional assistance from the central government is needed, we will try to provide it as quickly as possible,” said President Prabowo.

President Prabowo asked the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to examine the possibility of using certain chemicals or materials that could be used to extinguish fires or prevent their spread more effectively. According to him, such innovations could be used by firefighting teams in the form of spray canisters or other more practical methods.

“Like a fire extinguisher, what we imagine is that it releases a chemical substance, right? So, please check it. Perhaps BRIN can look into it. Can BRIN produce it, or can we source it? These substances are already sold for firefighting equipment. We need the contents, so find out where we can source them from, so that they might be more effective for the teams deployed in the area. They could carry these canisters with them. Perhaps it would be faster,” said President Prabowo.

During the meeting, Chief of the Indonesian National Police (Polri), General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, reported an innovation involving a firefighting agent made from tuber or cassava flour. The material is considered to have the potential to prevent the spread of fire by separating the elements that support combustion, while also being used to extinguish fires at an early stage.

The Commander of the II/Sriwijaya Military Regional Command (Pangdam II/Sriwijaya), Major General TNI Ujang Darwis, also reported that the innovation had been presented to relevant authorities and submitted to BNPB. Although production capacity is currently limited, the material was considered effective and showed potential for development on a larger scale.

In response to the report, President Prabowo instructed that the initiative be developed and tested on a larger scale. The President also requested that the required production budget be proposed so that the government could support the research, production, and effectiveness testing process.

“Very interesting. The raw material comes from sweet potatoes, from cassava. Try producing it on a large scale. Submit the budget required for its production. We will make every effort. So, instead of water bombing, we will have sweet potatoes bombing,” said the President.

In addition to developing innovative firefighting agents, President Prabowo also instructed the TNI Commander to test the capability of Team Alpha in supporting forest and land fire management in South Sumatra. Various forms of support and response methods will continue to be evaluated to ensure that firefighting efforts can be carried out quickly, effectively, and comprehensively.

President Prabowo emphasized that all available resources, technologies, and innovations must be utilized optimally. Various response methods will continue to be evaluated so that forest and land fires can be extinguished more quickly, effectively, and comprehensively. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (RD/LW)