By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil
JAKARTA, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- President Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia’s forest and land fires had begun to be brought under control in several areas, expressing hope that the situation could be fully resolved within the next one or two weeks.
Prabowo said substantial resources had been mobilised to tackle the fires, including dozens of helicopters, more than a dozen aircraft, hundreds of water wells and pumps, as well as thousands of personnel.
“I think it has begun to be brought under control and mitigated in several places. I hope that within one or two weeks everything can be resolved,” he said in his speech at the launch of Indonesia’s 100-gigawatt solar power programme and groundbreaking ceremony for its initial projects in Jembrana, Bali, on Tuesday, which was streamed live.
Prabowo said the world was experiencing a strong El Nino this year, forecast to be among the strongest on record, requiring Indonesia to remain vigilant against risks arising from the weather phenomenon.
The president said he had personally visited several areas to inspect the situation and found that regional governments, ministries and agencies, the military, police and disaster management authorities were working effectively.
Last Saturday, Prabowo travelled to West and Central Kalimantan to inspect forest and land fire operations and lead response efforts, before heading to Sumatra on Monday to oversee firefighting operations there.
He also highlighted the government’s response to other recent disasters, including the powerful earthquake that struck East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) earlier this month.
“We resolved the disaster in Aceh within a timeframe that many parties could not have imagined. In NTT, our response was very fast, very massive.” he said, stressing that the government is present wherever it is needed.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the Flores region in NTT on Aug 15, killing 103 people and injuring 1,666, while 185,131 people remained displaced as of 4pm on Tuesday, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
BNPB Acting Head of the Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre Berton Panjaitan said at a press conference on Tuesday that 7,029 aftershocks had been recorded since the main earthquake, including 141 tremors that were felt by residents.
-- BERNAMA