President Prabowo flies to Kalimantan to direct wildfire containment operations

President Prabowo flies to Kalimantan to direct wildfire containment operations

President Prabowo Subianto departed for Kalimantan on Saturday morning to directly command forest and land fire suppression efforts as the island faces its most severe wildfire crisis this year, with more than 900 of the 1,250 fire hotspots detected nationwide this week concentrated in the region.

Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya confirmed the presidential deployment, stating that Prabowo flew to Kalimantan to inspect affected areas and lead simultaneous containment operations across multiple provinces. The trip comes as Indonesia's weather agency forecasts that El Niño conditions will persist into early 2027, with the critical fire season expected to peak from August through September 2026.

Coordinated military and police response

On Friday, President Prabowo assigned senior commanders from the Indonesian National Armed Forces and National Police to coordinate firefighting operations across Kalimantan's four provinces, dividing responsibilities to ensure rapid, integrated field operations.

TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto and National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo were tasked with leading efforts in West Kalimantan, where weather modification operations conducted from August 13-17 produced an estimated 10.92 million cubic meters of rainfall through nine cloud-seeding flight sorties. These operations are scheduled to resume August 23-27.

In Central Kalimantan, Army Chief of Staff General Maruli Simanjuntak and Police Deputy Chief Commissioner General Dedi Prasetyo were assigned command, while Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Muhammad Ali leads South Kalimantan operations alongside Commissioner General Muhammad Fadil Imran. TNI Deputy Commander General Tandyo Budi Revita and Mobile Brigade Commander Commissioner General Ramdani Hidayat oversee East Kalimantan containment.

Escalating fire emergency

Forestry ministry data reveals the accelerating scale of the crisis: from January to July 2026, wildfires consumed 202,004 hectares of Indonesian land, nearly doubling from the 107,465 hectares burned through June. The fires present particular challenges in South Kalimantan, where peatland blazes spread beneath the surface and continue burning even when flames are no longer visible above ground.

Air quality has deteriorated sharply in several Kalimantan regencies, with visibility reduced to between one and ten meters in some areas due to choking haze. The transboundary impact has extended beyond Indonesia's borders, prompting Malaysian authorities to close more than 100 schools in Sarawak state last week to protect children from hazardous air pollution.

Law enforcement and accountability

Cabinet Secretary Wijaya emphasized that President Prabowo has ordered swift action to bring the fires under control so communities can resume normal activities. The president also stressed the importance of holding accountable all parties found violating environmental protection regulations and laws against land burning.

Central Kalimantan Regional Police have already named approximately 12 individuals as suspects in forest fire cases as of mid-August, following investigations into the causes and responsible parties. Indonesian Law No. 32/2009 prohibits land conversion by fire, with violators facing fines and prison sentences.

The government has deployed weather modification technology on an unprecedented scale in recent years, conducting 252 cloud-seeding operations between 2021 and August 2026, compared to just 85 operations in the preceding decade. Most recent operations have focused on dousing active wildfires or wetting flammable peatlands to prevent ignition.

By traveling to Kalimantan, President Prabowo reinforced the government's commitment to rapidly controlling the wildfire emergency while ensuring that law enforcement accompanies containment efforts.