Prabowo Orders Faster, Coordinated Response to Kalimantan Forest Fires

August 23, 2026 | 08:12 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -  Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto believes that forest and land fires in Kalimantan can be controlled. He stated that the fire incidents this year are not worse than in previous years.

“I hope we can control it soon. If we look at history, the years, how many years before, it was much worse, and we were able to handle it. So, I believe we can overcome this soon,” said Prabowo, as he led a coordination meeting on forest and land fire handling in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, on Saturday, August 22, 2026, as broadcasted live through the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel.

The former Defense Minister during President Joko Widodo's administration ensured that the government is taking mitigation measures to handle forest fires in several areas in Kalimantan. “What's important is to quickly stop the expansion of new fire points,” Prabowo said.

Prabowo claims that the central government has fulfilled all the needs of the affected areas. “Alhamdulillah (Praise to God), this is ongoing. All officials report their needs, and we strive to fulfill them. Every day we add helicopters, equipment, and drilling machines for water. We fulfill all the equipment,” said the Chairman of the Gerindra Party.

Previously, on Friday, August 21, 2026, President Prabowo had ordered and delegated tasks to the TNI and Polri leadership to directly handle forest and land fires in four affected provinces in Kalimantan. “Task distribution is carried out to ensure that the field handling is faster, integrated, and simultaneous,” said Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya in a written statement.

President Prabowo assigned TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto and National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to handle forest and land fires in West Kalimantan. Then, the handling in Central Kalimantan is led by Army Chief of Staff General Maruli Simanjuntak and National Police Deputy Chief Commissioner General Dedi Prasetyo.

As for South Kalimantan, the President assigned Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Muhammad Ali along with the National Police's Main Assistant for Operations (Astamaops Polri) Commissioner General Muhammad Fadil Imran. Lastly, in East Kalimantan, Deputy TNI Commander General Tandyo Budi Revita and Mobile Brigade Corps Commander (Brimob) National Police Commissioner General Ramdani Hidayat were assigned to directly handle forest and land fires.

President Prabowo, according to Teddy, instructed for the handling to be carried out as quickly and optimally as possible. Thus, the fires can be promptly addressed and the people in the affected areas can return to their daily activities normally. “The President also requested that any violations of the law found be dealt with firmly according to the applicable provisions,” said Teddy.

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