Indonesia appoints new disaster agency head in President Prabowo's third reshuffle in a month

JAKARTA: Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday (Oct 15) appointed a new head for the country's disaster mitigation agency in his third reshuffle of cabinet members and senior officials in just over a month.

Kristomei Sianturi replaced Suharyanto as chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), one of the key agencies currently battling land and forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra that have engulfed parts of the region in smoke haze.

Kristomei is an army general who was most recently commander of the Radin Inten Regional Military Command, a post he held from August last year. 

The new appointment comes as Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested five suspects in a case involving procurement of goods and services using disaster preparedness funds at BNPB. 

One of the suspects, Bima Setyawan, is the younger brother of Suharyanto, who was appointed BNPB chief in 2021.

Prabowo on Thursday also appointed new deputy defence, agricultural and immigration ministers, as well as Satyawan Pudyatmoko as the new head of the national peatland and mangrove management agency. Satyawan was previously the director-general of natural resources and ecosystem conservation at the forestry ministry.

The latest reshuffle follows one on Oct 1 that saw the appointment of new foreign and industry ministers, new coordinating ministers over several portfolios and eight other senior leaders of agencies and the police force. 

On Sep 14, Prabowo sacked former finance minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa and appointed his deputy Suahasil Nazara as his replacement. 

This is the eighth reshuffle since Prabowo took office on Oct 20, 2024.