Kandangan. Hulu Sungai Selatan's disaster management agency (BPBD) thanked PT Subur Agro Makmur (SAM) for helping with the fire extinguishing in the forest fires occuring in lands owned by local residents. 

The oil palm plantation firm is a subsidiary of Astra Agro Lestari (AALI), which has operations in South Kalimantan. PT SAM has helped provide personnel, ground-based firefighting equipment, and even deployed a helicopter for water bombing.

BPBD Hulu Sungai Selatan head Ika Agus said that the multi-stakeholder approach, including PT SAM, is key to taming the forest fires amid dry weather and a scarcity of water sources. Agus said that the dry and hot weather had triggered fires in several locations. The current regulations say that a company is responsible for managing fires within its concession. BPBD finds PT SAM's assistance in the resident-owned land to be valuable.

“The ground support and the water-bombing helicopter have been a great help to the joint team in controlling the fires,” Agus said.

The region is currently on an “emergency alert” for forests. This situation necessitates high levels of preparedness and cross-sector coordination to ensure that fires can be addressed as early as possible, preventing them from spreading to other areas.

The support provided by PT SAM is part of this collective effort. A company operating in Hulu Sungai Selatan Regency has deployed a Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter.

The aerial operation has conducted three water-bombings on hotspots located outside the company’s concession — specifically, along the perimeter of its operational area. The water-bombing is capable of reaching harder-to-reach areas.

PT SAM is expected to continue the aerial operations depending on the visibility conditions. It will focus on addressing fires located outside the company’s concession boundaries.

On the ground, these aerial efforts are supported by PT SAM’s Emergency Response Preparedness Team (TKTD), working in tandem with the Masyarakat Peduli Api community. This joint team conducts active monitoring and direct firefighting.

The company’s involvement in addressing fires outside its own concession area serves as a form of support for the local government and the community.

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