VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Forest and land fires (karhutla) were the most common disasters in the week from July 18 to July 24, 2022, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) informed on Monday.

Acting head of the Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center of the BNPB, Abdul Muhari, said that in general, forest and land fires were the most common disasters in the week, with 18 incidents reported overall.

"It means that even though there is a rainy season in some areas, some other parts of Indonesia are starting to experience drought. So, the intensity and frequency of forest fires has started to increase," he informed during an online disaster briefing in Jakarta on Monday.

Concerned over the forest and land fires,  the BNPB, and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), under the coordination of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, held a joint coordination meeting on preventing and mitigating forest fires, Muhari said.

According to BNPB data, until this week, there has been a shift in disasters from flooding or wet hydrometeorological disasters that used to dominate to dry hydrometeorological disasters, especially forest fires.

"In the past week, some 53.8 hectares of land have been burned," he informed.

During the period, Indonesia recorded dry hydrometeorological disasters along with wet hydrometeorological disasters, which submerged 118 houses and forced 2,430 people to relocate. In addition, flooding also caused heavy damage to four houses.

In the one week from July 18 to 24, at least 39 disasters were recorded in the country, Muhari said.

In Sumatra and Kalimantan, the number of floods began to decrease this week, but there was an increase in the incidence of forest fires, he informed.

Right now, the BNPB is focusing on handling wet and dry hydrometeorological disasters, he added. (antaranews)