Prabowo: Forest Fires Must Not Reach IKN Core Zone
President Prabowo instructed officials and the military to deploy heavy helicopters to prevent forest fires from spreading to the IKN core zone.
President Prabowo Subianto has cautioned that forest and land fires must not be permitted to enter the core zone of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) in Penajam Paser Utana, East Kalimantan. The call for action came during a hybrid meeting focusing on disaster management progress. Speaking at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday, September 7, 2026, Prabowo emphasized the importance of vigilance around the IKN, urging his team to mobilize necessary resources to prevent further spread.
He appealed to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to work alongside the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) for strategic positioning of heavy military transport helicopters, such as Chinook helicopters, to aid in the containment efforts. A representative of the BNPB, Lieutenant General Suharyanto, reported that a 458-hectare portion of the Bukit Soeharto Grand Forest Park is currently ablaze and that emergency personnel are actively attempting to control the fire.
In the broader IKN region, within the Bukit Soeharto area, 458 hectares are burning, and the ground task force is providing support. By September 7, 2026, the total area burned across six provinces—West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Riau, South Sumatra, and Jambi—had accumulated to 72,008 hectares, while the area successfully contained stood at 71,274.29 hectares.
Written by urgent.news from Tempo.co English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
