President Prabowo Orders Full-Scale Push to Contain Riau’s Forest Fires

RRI.CO.ID, Pekanbaru – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto traveled to Sumatra as part of a tour to oversee efforts to tackle forest fires throughout the country. His first destination was Riau Province, located in central Sumatra.

"The President wants to ensure that the response is carried through to completion – not merely by receiving reports, but by seeing and hearing firsthand the conditions on the ground, ensuring that the hotspots are truly extinguished, and making sure that all decisions that have been taken are implemented quickly, in a coordinated manner, and appropriately," Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, said in a statement on Monday, August 24, 2026, as reported by the Presidential Secretariat.

Upon arriving in Pekanbaru, Prabowo immediately chaired a meeting at Roesmin Nurjadin Air Force Base to evaluate efforts to tackle forest and land fires in Riau. Head of the Riau Regional Disaster Management and Firefighting Agency, Edy Afrizal, said such fires in Riau had worsened in 2026 compared with the previous year, partly due to an exceptionally strong El Niño.

"Of these 306 hotspots, seven have already developed into fires, spread across four regencies," Edy said, adding that 16,277.5 hectares of land in Riau had burned between January and August 2026.

Prabowo praised the response to the forest and land fires in Riau, which had reduced the burnt area from around 16,000 hectares to approximately 900 hectares. He expressed his appreciation to all personnel who had worked to tackle the fires.

"I think this is quite an achievement. You have dealt with 15,000 hectares. I am confident that you can deploy your forces immediately to deal with the remaining 900 hectares. The TNI (Indonesian Military) and Polri (Indonesian Police) should deploy their strength. If you need additional assistance, report it immediately... But I believe you can handle the remaining 900 hectares. Stay vigilant," he said.

Commander of the Military Regional Command XIX/Tuanku Tambusai at the Army, Major General TNI Agus Hadi Waluyo, reported that five water-bombing helicopters had been deployed to support firefighting operations. According to him, the strategy involved not only extinguishing fires but also preventing them from spreading.

"Of all the activities we have carried out, the most effective has been weather modification operations. The soil conditions in Riau are not the same as last year. We wet the ground so that there is sufficient water in the soil. Then, for firefighting operations in places that cannot be reached by ground troops, we use water-bombing helicopters to cut off the fire’s path so that it cannot jump or spread to other areas," Agus said.

Agus further conveyed that the TNI had established a Rapid Disaster Response Force Team. The team includes free-fall paratroopers prepared to conduct direct firefighting operations in difficult locations.

Prabowo confirmed that these measures were being implemented, describing them as one of the efforts that had been "very helpful" in dealing with the forest fires in Riau. He also stressed that personnel deployed to hotspots or active fire areas must be equipped with adequate personal protective equipment.

"I think this is probably the first time we have done this in our history. Good... free-fall (paratroopers) should not be used only for ceremonies; now we are using them to help the people," the President said.