Come Before the Fire Comes

This year fires occurred again in various areas. The government has actually taken precautions. There are routine patrols, integrated patrols, hotspot monitoring and joint operations. TNI, Polri, Manggala Agni, BPBD, local government and the community have come out in a number of areas. This means we are not starting from zero.

What needs to be thought about is how that power comes earlier, bigger and more structured. If every year we know the seasons, the months, and even the areas that repeatedly burn, why are preventive operations not strengthened long before fires appear? It's like we have a forest and land fires calendar.

This is where the TNI and Polri have important power. They have personnel mobilization capabilities, regional networks, command discipline and field operations experience. If given a special task with a clear area and time, this ability can be a big force in preventing forest and land fires.

Not replacing the Forestry Police or Manggala Agni. In fact, it strengthens them.

Personnel can be placed in vulnerable areas when the forest is still green. Patrolling, monitoring vulnerable spots and land clearing activities. I think the mere presence of officers is enough to make people who intend to carry fire think twice.

Which is cheaper: deploying personnel for three or four months in a vulnerable area, or deploying thousands of people as the fire grows? Patrol or helicopter? If necessary, just calculate the cost of the aviation fuel.

The National Police has Operation Safe Nusa II for disaster management, including forest and land fires. The Ministry of Forestry also carries out integrated patrols with the TNI, Polri and the community. So what is needed may not be something completely new.