REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government will share responsibility with local administration and companies to prevent forest fires and cope with any incidents of fire outbreaks.

"The central government cannot control the forest fires all alone. It will involve local administration and companies that own the right to manage forests to cope with such fires," President Joko Widodo said in a joint interview he gave to Antara, RRI and TVRI here on Monday.

The head of the state said the problem of forest fires and smoke has been going on for the last 18 years. It should be addressed and anticipated properly if such incidents are to be prevented in the future.

"Corporations should also be responsible and they must have their own infrastructure and facilities in place to overcome forest fires," the President said.

In order to handle smoke and forest fires, the President noted, Indonesia has deployed 19,000 military and police personnel as well as other components of the state.

In addition, the government also carried out the construction of the canals to control peatland fires.

"The solution is to build partitioned canals. The development of canals needs a lot of time because an area of 1.7 million hectares was involved. This is not an easy job. We have deployed 19,000 military and police personnel to build partitioned canals," the President said.

Nevertheless, the President underlined the role of local governments and communities in the vicinity of the burned area to take preventive measures in relation to land and forest fires.

"The local government and communities have a major role in anticipating forest fires. Right now, we need their cooperation to overcome the problems," the President said.

The government's efforts to extinguish forest fires can be successful, the President noted, if all the parties can work together.

Earlier, the number of hotspots in South Sumatra Province dropped drastically to 163 from 500 recorded a few days ago at a time when Indonesia is transitioning from dry to rainy season.

The hotspots were detected in nine of the province's 17 districts, Indra Purnama of the South Sumatra meteorology office, reported here on Monday.

The largest number of hotspots was detected in Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) which had 100 hotspots, Musirawar had 26, Muaraenim 13, Musi Banyuasin 11, Ogan Komering Ulu eight, Lahat six, North Musirawas five, and East and South OKU had one hotspot, respectively.

A joint team comprising Indonesian personnel and fire fighters from Malaysia, Singapore and Australia have intensified their efforts to put out the fires, particularly in OKI, by dropping water bombs.

South Sumatra is also expected to receive rains in the near future as the El Nino natural phenomenon had triggered a prolonged drought in parts of Indonesia.

In the meantime, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Forestry Siti Nurbaya stated on Oct. 9 that 1.7 million hectares of forest and land areas had so far been burnt in the fires this year.

Moreover, millions of people, including those from Malaysia and Singapore, have become victims of the haze.

During the period between June 29 and October 5, 2015, at least 307,360 people in six Indonesian provinces had sought medical treatment for respiratory ailments and other conditions caused by smoke or haze from the forest fires.

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