REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian military (TNI) has managed to put out 3,163 out of 3,289 hotspots from land and forest fires in the four provinces of South Sumatra, Riau, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.
"Since forest fires began to occur in the four provinces, the TNI has deployed 5,010 personnel to help put out the land and forest fires," Head of the TNI's Information Center Brigadier General Tatang Sulaiman said here on Friday.
During their assignment from September 12 to October 8, 2015, TNI soldiers joining the forest fire control task force managed to put out 3,163 hotspots in the four provinces, he said.
He said 126 hotspots could not yet be put out, including 37 in South Sumatra, one in Riau, 29 in Central Kalimantan, and 59 in South Kalimantan.
To put out the remaining hotspots, the TNI has deployed 310 more personnel from the Sriwijaya regional military command to help land and forest fire fighting efforts.
He said 2,959 of 5,018 military personnel joining the forest fire control task force are deployed in South Sumatra, 1,059 in Riau, 500 in Central Kalimantan, and 500 in South Kalimantan.
Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya said while accompanying President Joko Widodo during an inspection of firefighting efforts in the village of Rimbo Panjang in the district of Kampar in the Sumatra province of Riau on Friday that 1.7 million hectares of forests and land in Sumatra and Kalimantan has been burnt in the fires so far.
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