Introductory Remarks of President Prabowo Subianto at Limited Meeting on Forest and Land Fires Response on a video conference at Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Monday, October 12, 2026

Cabinet Secretary (Teddy Indra Wijaya)

 

Your Excellency, Mr. President,

Today, Monday, October 12, 2026, the President is accompanied by the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, the Minister of Defense, the Commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI), and the Chief of the Indonesian National Police (Polri).

Also attending via video conference are the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the Chiefs of Staff of the TNI services, the Minister of Home Affairs, and the Governor, Military Regional Commander, and Regional Police Chief of South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan Provinces.

We will focus on these two provinces, and the Head of BNPB will provide an overview of the situation. We respectfully invite the President to deliver his opening remarks. Thank you.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

Thank you, all. Let’s get straight to the point. I would like an update on the latest developments and the current situation. Perhaps the Head of BNPB can brief us. Please proceed.

Head of BNPB (Suharyanto)

Yes, Mr. President. With your permission, I would like to report on the latest situation as of today, Monday, October 12, 2026.

Mr. President, six provinces are priority areas for peatland fire management: Central Kalimantan, South Sumatra, South Kalimantan, Jambi, West Kalimantan, and Riau. As of today, the total area still burning and being handled by task force personnel in the field stands at 639.23 hectares.

The largest area affected is in Central Kalimantan. This is because new fires were just detected in Tanjung Puting National Park, West Kotawaringin, and Seruyan Regencies. As of today, 513.89 hectares have been burned there. Although the affected area consists of mineral soil rather than peatland, we must address it as an urgent priority.

The Central Kalimantan Military Regional Commander has also taken direct command of operations in the field today, with additional personnel and equipment deployed to reinforce the ground task force.

As for the air task force, we have attempted to deploy aircraft from both Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangka Raya and Syamsudin Noor Airport in Banjarmasin. However, our operations have not yet been able to proceed because of extremely poor visibility. In Central Kalimantan alone, aerial operations, including helicopter water-bombing missions, weather modification operations, and commercial flights, are currently unable to operate because of low visibility.

In summary, Mr. President, as of October 12, 2026, two provinces continue to face particularly serious conditions: Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan. Fires are still raging in other areas, but they are easier to extinguish.

We are also continuing to deploy water-bombing helicopters to hard-to-reach areas, including Way Kambas National Park, Tanjung Puting in Pangkalan Bun, and East Halmahera in North Maluku.

In Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra, we continue to prioritize ground operations. In Central Kalimantan in particular, water-bombing helicopters have been unable to fly for more than a week because of low visibility.

In South Sumatra, aircraft have only been able to fly again today. We will combine these operations with weather modification efforts and increase the number of aircraft deployed. Four aircraft are operating in Central Kalimantan, while two operating from Pangkalpinang are being deployed to South Sumatra.

We will continue working hard and mobilizing all available resources, particularly throughout October. According to BMKG forecasts, natural rainfall is expected to begin around mid-October and continue into November. Once the rainy season begins, the forest and land fire situation should improve.

Until then, however, we are prepared to work tirelessly and deploy all available resources.

That concludes my report, Mr. President. We await your further instructions.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

Head of BNPB, I would like to confirm something. The total area still burning and requiring firefighting across the six provinces is 639.23 hectares. Is that correct?

Head of BNPB (Suharyanto)

That is correct, Mr. President.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

I had thought that hundreds of thousands, or at least tens of thousands, of hectares were still burning. It turns out the situation has improved considerably.

For that reason, please convey this to the Minister for Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform. When I requested 70,000 forest rangers, I had a specific purpose in mind: to protect our forests.

The Ministry of Forestry has only 20,000 forest rangers. If necessary, they should receive training from the police or the military. They are called forest rangers, after all. Chief of Police, perhaps you can help train them?

Our natural environment poses serious challenges. But we have gone from hundreds of thousands of hectares a few weeks ago to less than a thousand hectares now. I believe this progress would not have been made possible without a major, large-scale intervention on our part. We must also prepare mitigation measures for the future.

Tanjung Puting National Park is of a particular concern because it is a national park. I would like to thank all of you for your hard work, including the military regional commanders, regional police chiefs, and officials in the affected areas.

As for the smoke, we should seek input from our professors and experts on how to address it. Ultimately, however, rainfall is what will help extinguish these fires.

We have discussed a strategy for this. When I gathered experts from universities across the country, including professors and specialists from the affected regions themselves, we agreed that the most important approach going forward would be precise prevention and mitigation measures implemented at the lowest level of government, particularly at the village level.

That is all from me. Thank you, and good afternoon.

Would any military regional commander like to provide a report?

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Yes, Mr. President. With your permission, I would like to report that, as you mentioned earlier, Tanjung Puting has attracted international attention.

As of today, there are 247 foreign tourists in the Tanjung Puting area. So far this year, the area has received 66,000 foreign tourists. Therefore, we must focus our efforts on tackling these forest and land fires.

The situation is not as straightforward as we might imagine, Mr. President. I have assigned several personnel to inspect the affected locations. The fires are spread across widely separated areas, and the terrain consists largely of swampland.

The area is home not only to orangutans but also to numerous wild animals, including crocodiles, snakes, and others. Entering these areas therefore requires considerable caution.

I have established a dedicated team. From this morning until this afternoon, we held coordination meetings with the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), local government, and the police. We are organizing the team carefully to ensure that personnel can enter the area safely, as the fires are scattered across distant locations.

I would also like to report one remaining equipment shortage. Vehicles cannot access these locations, so we need additional small water pumps. The pumps previously provided by you are already in use and are still being used to cool down several areas.

At present, our main shortage is alkon pumps, or portable water pumps. We have sufficient hoses and other equipment, but we need additional pumps. I have coordinated with the Governor of Central Kalimantan, who is arranging supplies. We hope they can arrive soon.

These pumps are difficult to obtain in Kalimantan, so some will likely need to be brought in from Java.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

How many do you need?

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Approximately 50 pumps should be sufficient to address the situation, Mr. President. The important thing is to have the equipment available so that we can put it to use immediately.

Because the area is swampy and difficult to access, we also need water-well drilling teams. We already have some teams, but they are also deployed elsewhere. We have therefore brought two teams to the area.

In swampy areas like these, drilling is relatively straightforward, as water can be reached at depths of only 10 to 15 metres. This would enable us to extinguish fires more quickly across the affected locations.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

How many water pumps do you need? Fifty alkon pumps?

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Fifty alkon pumps would be sufficient, Mr. President.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

Send 200. Send 200 alkon pumps.

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

They may need to be shipped from Java to Kalimantan, Mr. President.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

I will send 200 alkon pumps.

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Yes. Thank you, Mr. President.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

What else do you need? A drilling team?

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

For now, that is all, Mr. President.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

Could you establish a drilling team there? We will provide the pumps.

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Yes, Sir.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

The team members could perhaps be recruited from the local community, couldn’t they?

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

We will identify suitable local personnel for the team, Mr. President.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

How much would it cost to pay for drilling one well?

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

The cost at the location is approximately Rp10 million per well, Mr. President.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

Rp10 million per well?

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Yes, Sir.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

All right. I will allocate Rp2 billion for 200 wells.

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. We will also involve local communities in helping construct these wells.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

Yes. Prevention is the key.

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Yes, Sir.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

I want this situation addressed as soon as possible. What is the visibility like over Tanjung Puting National Park?

Military Regional Commander of Kodam XXII/Tambun Bungai (Zainul Arifin)

Based on the latest report I received from the Air Force Base Commander, visibility is approximately 500 meters, Mr. President.

If possible, we would request that the Indonesian Air Force deploy aircraft for water-bombing operations. Private operators generally require visibility of at least 5,000 meters. Yesterday, in South Kalimantan, the Air Force or Army Aviation was willing to conduct water-bombing operations with visibility of around 3,000 meters.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

All right. We will coordinate this. The TNI and Polri should coordinate their aviation personnel.

The Chief of Police will explain the matter, but I do not think we need to disclose too much publicly. Please brief us directly on this matter through restricted channels.

All right, thank you, everyone. Thank you for your efforts. Keep working hard and continue the fight. If you have any needs or require additional support, let us know.

This is one of our highest priorities. We must address the fires immediately and take steps to prevent them from recurring.

Our future campaign and strategy must be extensive, comprehensive, far-reaching, and focused on prevention.

 (RD/MUR)