Prabowo shifts to leading Sumatra fire response
The President visited Riau on Monday to oversee firefighting efforts as blazes rage amid persisting dry conditions, just a day after officiating a meeting on the fire response in Kalimantan.
President Joko Widodo visited Riau on August 24 to oversee firefighting efforts as blazes raged due to persistent dry conditions. This visit followed a meeting in Kalimantan where the President officiated on fire response measures. Prabowo Subianto, the President's nominee, traveled to Riau to lead containment of forest and peatland fires.
During his meeting with officials, Prabowo was briefed by M. Edy Afrizal, chief of the Riau Disaster Mitigation and Firefighting Agency. Edy warned that the 2023 fires were more severe than the previous year's, partly because of a strong El Nino phenomenon. As of August 23, there were 306 hot spots across seven locations in four regencies, affecting approximately 900 hectares.
Edy reported that despite the worsening situation, firefighters and authorities had intensified their response efforts. The remaining hotspots were concentrated in Pelalawan regency, Kerumutan, and Kampar regency, in Rimbo Panjang. The President's swift action to address the crisis in Sumatra follows his recent inspection of fire-stricken areas in Kalimantan, where additional resources like aircraft, personnel, and water pumps were deployed to bolster firefighting operations.
Written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
