REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MARTAPURA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the government will focus on preventing land and forest fires next year.
"Starting 2016 the government will focus on preventing land and forest fires. Don't let (land and forest fires) recur every year," he said at Tahura Sultan Adam, South Kalimantan province on Thursday.
He made the remarks after planting trees to mark the Indonesia Planting Trees Day and the National Planting Month at Tahura in Banjar district, South Kalimantan.
Prevention is the most appropriate step to prevent land and forest from catching fires, he said.
"We'd better take preventive measures so we can anticipate everything that may happen, including forest and land fires," he said.
Whether the prevention is successful can be seen from the province which has vast area of forested land but the forest does not catch fire and the province which has small area of forested land but the forest is burnt, he said.
"If a province can prevent forest and land fires, this means that its prevention effort is successful. But if there are still land and forest fires, this means that there is something wrong," he said.
He said peatland fires must be prevented. If peatland catches fire it will be very difficult to put it out.
"Preventing peatland fires is high on the list of priorities. If peatland has caught fire it will be difficult to extinguish it no matter how many water bombing planes are operated," he said.
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