President Instructs West Kalimantan Gov’t to Repeal Regulation Permitting Land Clearing by Burning

Pontianak: President Prabowo Subianto instructed the Provincial Government of West Kalimantanto immediately repeal the Local Regulation (Perda) Number 1 of 2022 which regulates the provision of land clearing by burning.

That statement was delivered by the Governor of Kalbar, Ria Norsan after receiving an instruction from the president in person.

“Minister of Home Affairs (Tito Karnavian) has told me regarding his (President Prabowo Subianto) instruction to repeal Perda Number 1 of 2022, must be repealed immediately,” said Norsan in Pontianak, Saturday, August 22, 2026.

Norsan explained that the repeal of that local regulation is carried out as a matter of urgency, knowing the current situation of forest and land fire is already at an emergency level. The effects of fire has been widely felt by the people, business community, and various parties in Kalbar.

That instruction was delivered by the president when carried out an on-site inspection of the karhutla response, on Saturday afternoon, August 22, 2026. The government emphasized their commitment to take a clear effort, including law enforcement to the party who deliberately burn the land.

At that visit, the President also gave instruction to the Local Government and officials of Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) to accelerate the karhutla impacts of the haze management.

Meanwhile, the burning for land clearing referred to in Perda Number 1 on 2022 refers to limited and controlled burning of burning cultivation land, including the area to be burnt does not exceed two hectares per household, designated for the cultivation of local plant varieties, and carried out by implementing firebreak system to prevent the spread of fire to surrounding areas.

Previously, President Prabowo has instructed to accelerate the karhutla management in all Kalimantan regions by assigning command responsibilities to the seniors of Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and National Police (Polri).

The Cabinet Secretary, Teddy Indra Wijaya, in his written statement said this effort is taken to ensure the operations on the ground are carried out swiftly, in a coordinated manner, and simultaneously.

The following is a breakdown of the allocation of responsibilities for forest and land fire response in four province in Kalimantan:

- West Kalimantan: Led by Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Panglima TNI) General Agus Subiyanto and Indonesian National Police Chief (Kapolri) General Listyo Sigit Prabowo.

- Central Kalimantan: Led by Army Chief of Staff (KSAD) General Maruli Simanjuntak and Vice of Indonesian National Police Chief (Wakapolri) Komjen Dedi Prasetyo.

- South Kalimantan: Led by Navy Chief of Staff (KSAL) Laksamana Muhammad Ali together with Principal Assistant for Operations of the Indonesian National Police (Astamaops Polri) Konjen Muhammad Fadil Imran.

- East Kalimantan: Led by vice of Panglima TNI General Tandyo Budi Revita and Commander of the Indonesian National Police’s Mobile Brigade Corps (Komandan Korps Brimob Polri) Komjen Ramdani Hidayat.

President Prabowo emphasized all officials to act swiftly so that fire can be extinguished immediately and the people can continue their activities normally.

(Khairunissa Auliya)