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Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, at the 2021 National Disaster Management Coordination Meeting (Rakornas PB) of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), held in Jakarta on Friday (March 5, 2021). (ANTARA / HO-BNPB) 

The incidence of forest and land fires declined by around 82 percent in the past year, based on data collected in 2019 and 2020, according to Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD.

"It has decreased by 82 percent from what happened in 2019. It is very far," he said at the 2021 National Disaster Management Coordination Meeting (Rakornas PB) of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), held in Jakarta on Friday.

Mahfud said the total area affected by forest and land fires was recorded at 2.6 million hectares in 2019, and the figure fell to 296,942 hectares in 2020.He asked all agencies to continue to maintain the situation through comprehensive efforts geared towards accelerating the prevention of forest and land fires, as stipulated by Presidential Instruction Number 3 of 2020.

"Let us guard this situation because the government has committed to implementing forest and land fire prevention as a form of state presence," he remarked.

President Joko Widodo has instructed all designated agencies to carry out efforts to control forest and land fires in all regions of Indonesia, including measures to prevent the occurrence of such disasters.At the inauguration and opening of the 2021 National Disaster Management Coordination Meeting (Rakornas PB) at the State Palace on Wednesday (March 3, 2021), he had said that prevention and mitigation efforts must be prioritized for disaster risk reduction.

Referring to Presidential Instruction Number 3 of 2020, Mahfud emphasized the importance of efforts to restore the situation in the areas affected by forest and land fires.

“(The focus needs to be on) How all components can restore the natural conditions to (improve) the socio-economic situation of the community,” he remarked.The former chief justice of the Constitutional Court said the implementation of law enforcement efforts against forest and land fires must also be made effective, including through administrative acts that lay down compensation according to the level of damage//ANT