Police chiefs from Riau, South Sumatera, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Papua were given instructions by National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian on ways to deal with peat land and forest fires expected during the peak of the dry season.
"The chiefs were brought in a few days ago. They reported the current situation in their province to the national chief, including what types of obstacles they've had to deal with,” National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Agus Rianto said.
Tough Papua has not suffered much from forest fires, Tito is worried that if they do happen, it will be very hard to put out since firefighters might find it hard to get to the locations of the fires.
According to National Police data, until August this year there have been 105 reported peat land and forest fires across Indonesia, with a total of 134 people charged with starting the fires.
"Last year we handled 275 cases of peat land and forest fires, with 166 people named as suspects for starting the fires, including nine companies who were investigated,” Agus said.
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