Jakarta (Antara Bali) - House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto has lauded the government's efforts in tackling land and forest fires in several provinces across Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"We laud the government's breakthroughs achieved in extinguishing the fires, one of which is the visits made to various locations," Novanto remarked here on Friday.
The statement was delivered after a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Luhut Pandjaitan, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, and Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek.
The meeting was held to discuss the handling of forest fires in Indonesia.
The meeting was also attended by the chairmen of commission I, II, III, IV, and VII.
"The explanation on the handling of fires is clear. We expect that there will be no further reports of casualties. We propose the appointment of a supervisor and a coordinator for mitigating the disaster," he affirmed.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said the government has applied integrated measures for handling the fires.
"We have faced some difficulties in combating the fires, but we have managed to reduce hotspots in various areas. The visibility tends to improve," he noted.
Earlier, the joint Air Task Force, comprising eight helicopters and aircraft, had used 553,500 liters of water to conduct water bombing to extinguish forest and plantation fires, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
"Some half million liters of water was dropped to put out the hotspots," BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated.
A Bombardier CL 415 Pelican, Hercules C130, Hercules Bomber 132, MI 8 helicopters, Bolkow 105, Chinook Mustang 93, and three Air Tractor aircraft were deployed during the operation.
"A Hercules Bomber 132 can carry up to 15 thousand liters of water," he noted.
The water bombing activities were carried out over Indralaya, Simpang Tiga Sakti, Padang Sugihan, Pedamaran, Cengal, and Air Sugihan.
The joint Air Task Force comprised personnel from Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Despite a significant drop in the number of hotspots, the efforts to extinguish the fires continued, he added.
"We hope this operation will yield optimal results," he remarked.
In the meantime, the joint Indonesian foreign team continued to focus on extinguishing land and forest fires in Ogan Komering Ilir district, South Sumatra Province.
"The joint task force focused on tackling land and forest fires through aerial operations. Ogan Ilir had turned out to be the biggest source of haze compared to other districts in Indonesia," the task force's deputy chief, Yulizar Dinoto, pointed out.
According to Dinoto, any fire occurring in peatland regions should be handled specifically and properly. (WDY)
