PONTIANAK, thekabarnews.com—The Pontianak city administration in West Kalimantan has intensified joint patrols and law enforcement to prevent forest and land fires (Karhutla). This action comes as Indonesia approaches the peak of the 2026 dry season.

Pontianak Mayor Edi Rusdi Kamtono said the patrols involve the Indonesian military (TNI), National Police, Pontianak Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Manggala Agni forest-fire teams, and other agencies. The operation is designed to detect and extinguish fires before they spread. It aims to stop hazardous smoke from forming.

“We have carried out preventive patrol operations. We formed a team and will enforce the law if anyone deliberately burns land and causes a haze disaster,” Edi said after leading a Karhutla coordination meeting with the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum on Tuesday, July 28.

The administration has already sealed a burned plot on Perdana Ujung Street while authorities investigate the landowner. Officials said the owner could face sanctions and fines under applicable regulations.

“We have identified one location on Perdana Ujung Street. The land will remain sealed while we process the owner, including imposing a fine,” Edi said.

Pontianak’s legal framework includes Mayor Regulation No. 114/2021, which amended the city’s regulation prohibiting land burning and remains in force.

Pontianak BPBD chief RM Nasir said the city experienced fires during two separate periods in 2026: January–March and again in July. In previous years, most incidents occurred between August and September.

“The evaluation from January to March became our basis. We are now prioritizing prevention and imposing sanctions when anyone burns land,” Nasir said.

The strategy combines intensive patrols, public education, rapid firefighting and legal action. Nasir said it had helped reduce fire activity in North Pontianak, previously among the city’s most affected districts.

South and Southeast Pontianak remain priority areas because several landowners live elsewhere, making their properties harder to monitor.

“Based on our monitoring, some landowners in those two areas do not live at the location, making supervision more difficult,” Nasir said.

BPBD has opened two monitoring posts ahead of the expected August dry-season peak. One is located in Merindu Alam to cover South and Southeast Pontianak. The second is based at Al Ihsan Mosque on Budi Utomo Street to monitor North Pontianak.

BPBD said firefighters had extinguished every fire in the city before satellites could detect it as a hotspot. The latest BMKG report cited by local authorities still recorded zero hotspots in Pontianak.

The danger extends beyond the city. By early April 2026, BMKG had reported 1,601 hotspots across Indonesia, while the Environment Ministry recorded 32,637.42 hectares of land burned by February 28. The burned area was nearly 20 times larger than the figure reported during the same period in 2025.

BMKG also forecasts that most of Kalimantan will reach its dry-season peak in August 2026. This reinforces the need for early intervention.

Nasir said BPBD would continue coordinating with district and neighborhood officials to monitor vulnerable plots. This effort includes land whose owners live outside Pontianak.