PONTIANAK, thekabarnews.com—President Prabowo Subianto has instructed the West Kalimantan provincial administration to begin repealing a regional regulation. This regulation permits traditional farmers to clear limited areas of land through controlled burning.

West Kalimantan Governor Ria Norsan disclosed the instruction after Prabowo inspected forest and land fire operations in Kubu Raya Regency on Saturday, August 22.

“The Home Minister informed me that the President had ordered us to immediately repeal Regional Regulation No. 1/2022,” Norsan said in Pontianak, as quoted by Metro TV.

Norsan said the provincial government must act urgently. This is because the fires and smoke have disrupted residents, businesses and public services across West Kalimantan.

West Kalimantan Regional Regulation No. 1/2022 governs agricultural land clearing based on local traditional practices. It does not provide unlimited permission to burn forests or land.

Article 5 allows traditional farmers to burn in a limited and controlled way: no more than two hectares per household.

Farmers must build firebreaks, prepare firefighting equipment, notify neighboring landowners, and remain on-site until they have fully extinguished the fire.

The provincial administration originally introduced the regulation to protect customary farming practices while preventing fires from spreading. It also requires farmers to use cleared land for locally cultivated crops such as rice, secondary food crops or vegetables.

As of August 22, the West Kalimantan legal-information portal continued to list the regulation as legally effective. The public record reviewed for this report did not yet show an enacted regulation formally revoking it.

Under Indonesia’s lawmaking framework, the governor and West Kalimantan Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) must process a provincial regulation. This regulation should amend or repeal an existing bylaw.

The presidential instruction therefore initiates a political and administrative process but does not automatically invalidate the regulation.

The instruction came as West Kalimantan faced extensive fires during a dry season intensified by El Niño. Data presented at Prabowo’s coordination meeting showed that fires had affected approximately 38,310 hectares across the province. Notably, the period was between January and August 2026.

Ketapang recorded the largest affected area at 12,443 hectares, followed by Kubu Raya with 8,614 hectares. Mempawah had 6,144 hectares and Sambas had 2,318 hectares.

At least nine West Kalimantan regencies and cities had declared wildfire emergency alert status. Authorities continued ground patrols, aerial monitoring, firefighting and weather-modification operations, although cloud seeding depends on the availability of suitable clouds.

Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said Prabowo had ordered officials to accelerate suppression operations and enforce the law.

“The President instructed authorities to handle the forest and land fires as quickly and effectively as possible so that people can resume their normal activities,” Teddy said.

“He also ordered firm action against every legal violation discovered,” he added.

Authorities must still investigate individual fires to establish their causes. In addition, they must distinguish accidental outbreaks, violations of controlled-burning requirements and deliberate illegal burning.