PALANGKA RAYA, thekabarnews.com—The Palangka Raya City Council (DPRD) has urged the municipal government to explain why several wildfire task-force personnel and volunteers reportedly have not received their honoraria for nearly two months. These workers have remained active in the field during this period.

City Council Commission III member Arif M. Norkim raised the issue after meeting personnel involved in suppressing forest and land fires (karhutla).

The volunteers told him that the city had yet to pay compensation owed for their work.

“From our meeting with several task force members and volunteers in the field, they said they had not received the honoraria to which they were entitled for almost two months,” Arif said, as quoted by Detik.

The council member asked the municipal government and the Palangka Raya Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) to clarify the cause of the delay. He also wants officials to identify which budget allocation will fund the payments.

According to Arif, each eligible worker normally receives about Rp100,000 per day. He attributed that figure to information obtained during his field visit.

The municipal administration had not publicly released a detailed payment document confirming the rate when this article was prepared.

“We need to know clearly whether the original 2026 city budget still has sufficient funds to pay the honoraria or whether payment must wait for the revised budget,” he said.

Arif warned that continued uncertainty could affect morale among personnel working in smoke, heat and difficult terrain.

Earlier in September, he said government crews and volunteers were responding to fire reports around the clock.

“Do not allow these payments to be delayed any longer,” Arif said. “They are still working in the field and need certainty over the rights they should receive.”

The funding question comes despite the city administration and council reaching a joint agreement on Palangka Raya’s revised 2026 budget on September 17.

The revised plan set regional spending at approximately Rp1.27 trillion. This is according to a report on the council meeting by the Palangka Raya Religious Court secretariat.

Council Speaker Subandi said the revision increased the BPBD allocation from Rp7.3 billion to Rp10.1 billion. This increase aims to strengthen disaster preparedness and wildfire operations.

However, publicly available reports do not establish whether the additional allocation specifically covers the outstanding volunteer payments.

The city administration and BPBD had not publicly explained the cause of the delay or announced a payment date when this report was prepared.

Arif called for the remaining budget procedures to move quickly if officials intended to use revised-budget funding.

A clear disbursement schedule, he said, would allow frontline personnel to concentrate on controlling fires. This would help them work without continuing uncertainty over their compensation.