Antara News·Indonesia·Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 04:14 AM UTC

Regional cooperation can speed wildfire response: MPR deputy speaker

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Bagus AR, Rahmad Nasution

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Speaker of Indonesia’s People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Eddy Soeparno said cooperation with neighboring countries could speed efforts to contain forest and land fires.

The fires have been unusually severe this year, compounded by El Nino, and the government has deployed about 60,000 personnel to tackle blazes across the country, he said.

“I hope support and assistance will help improve conditions on the ground as soon as possible,” Eddy said in Jakarta on Friday.

He said the fires should serve as a lesson in preventing similar incidents, especially as technology can forecast dry seasons well in advance.

“Modern technology can do more than monitor conditions: artificial intelligence can predict wind direction and identify fires likely to spread faster than others,” he said.

Rain has already fallen in some fire-affected areas, and he hoped it would help speed up suppression efforts, he said.

“But the most important thing, beyond responding to fires, is prevention,” he added.

Speaking after a closed-door meeting with House Commission I in Jakarta on Thursday, Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said President Prabowo Subianto had approved accepting assistance from neighboring countries to fight fires in several parts of Indonesia.

He said Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) was discussing the assistance mechanism at the technical level.

“The matter has been discussed and is being processed. The president has also approved it,” Arrmanatha said.

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