East Kutai BPBD found fake hotspots in the area caused by objects exposed to excessive heat that was detected automatically by satellites as hotspots.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — The Government of East Kutai Regency through the Regional Agency for Disaster Management (BPBD) has made numerous efforts to prevent land and forest fires, including by forming a Fire Care Community also known as Masyarakat Peduli Api (MPA).
“We continue to provide guidance to the community, one of which is through the Fire Care Community which conducts field patrols to check reports of hotspots,” said East Kutai BPBD Secretary Indra Arie Iranday after attending a forest and land fire prevention muster (06/22).
According to Indra, all this time his party still found fake hotspots caused by objects exposed to excessive heat that was detected automatically by satellites as hotspots. However, based on data and reports submitted to the BPBD, until now there have been no hotspots in the East Kutai area.
People still use the burning technique for land clearing as it is felt to be more effective and cheaper. Indra said, “However, we continue to urge the public not to burn forests anymore, primarily those located close to settlements since the impact can be detrimental to many parties.”
Through a written message delivered during the muster, East Kalimantan Governor Isran Noor said that the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Balikpapan Station detected 30 hotspots spread across diverse areas in East Kalimantan Province on May 13, 2023.
Isran advised, “This shows that East Kalimantan still has hotspots. For this reason, we must not be negligent and must continue to be vigilant to protect all existing areas, mainly with the development of the Archipelago Capital Region (IKN) in East Kalimantan.”
