Forest and Land Fires Persist: Options for Foreign Aid and Dispatch of Forest Police

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The government, alongside various stakeholders and volunteers, is employing multiple strategies to combat the forest and land fires (karhutla) that continue to rage in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

The smoke from these prolonged fires has disrupted daily life, deteriorating air quality and impacting public health, especially respiratory issues.

In several regions, educational activities have shifted to remote learning due to the limited visibility affecting flight operations.

The Ministry of Forestry is maximizing Cloud Seeding Operations (CSO) to address the karhutla in Central Kalimantan.

"God willing, the government will strive to be present and continue fighting from all sectors—land, air—and ensure that we will not be defeated by forest and land fires," said Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni in a statement on Sunday (18/10/2026).

This operation is part of the government's aerial efforts, running alongside the deployment of personnel and firefighting equipment on the ground to tackle the karhutla in Central Kalimantan.

Dry Ice Implementation

The Minister of Forestry plans to test the use of dry ice to help alleviate the smoke caused by karhutla in Central Kalimantan.

The initial target of this operation is Palangka Raya, aiming to reopen flight access at Tjilik Riwut Airport.

"We have already found suppliers in Kalimantan and, God willing, the materials will arrive by tomorrow afternoon. The dry ice operation will begin towards Palangka Raya to reopen Tjilik Riwut Airport," said Raja Juli.

He explained that the use of dry ice is one of the alternatives currently being developed by the government to reduce the impact of smoke from karhutla.

This method has been researched by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in collaboration with parties from Thailand.

However, the research is still under development through a series of trials. Therefore, the application of dry ice in Central Kalimantan will also be part of efforts to test the effectiveness of the method.

Mobile Brigade Across Regions

The National Police (Polri) is deploying personnel from the Mobile Brigade Corps (Brimob) from various regions to assist in tackling the karhutla in areas needing intensive intervention.

"Polri is deploying personnel and supporting resources from various regional units to assist in addressing karhutla according to field needs," said Polri's Public Relations Division Head Inspector General Johnny Eddizon Isir in a statement on Saturday (17/10/2026).

Recently, the Brimob Unit of the Lampung Regional Police sent six personnel along with two Armored Water Cannon (AWC) vehicles to aid in handling karhutla in South Sumatra.