Indonesia’s firefighters braced for a dry year – and they are short of cash

JAKARTA – As Indonesia braces itself for what could be an exceptionally dry year, the country’s firefighting agencies are already running short of money.

Operational budgets for 2026 in fire-prone regions including Riau – a province in eastern Sumatra facing the Strait of Malacca – and parts of Kalimantan – the Indonesian part of Borneo – have already been exhausted following a surge in land and forest blazes.

This has been worsened by sweeping government efficiency cuts that have reduced the central government’s fund transfers to regions, called TKD.

Officials in charge of forest and land firefighting are already requesting additional funds from their respective provincial coffers, The Straits Times understands.

“We’ve been feeling the cuts to TKD from the central government since last year,” an official in an affected province told ST on April 19.

When the central government reduces the TKD, local governments have less money to distribute to their local agencies, including those handling disaster management and forest fires.

“Being deployed on the ground means we rely heavily on transportation. We need fuel for our vehicles and water pumps, not to mention basic food and water for us. None of these operations are possible without a steady flow of funds,” the official also said, stressing this may affect firefighting efforts.

Fires in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan have roughly doubled compared to the same period in 2025, burning tens of thousands of hectares and prompting emergency alerts and water-bombing operations.

The situation is unfolding against a worrying climatic backdrop. Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency had warned in early March of a 50 to 60 per cent chance of a weak to moderate El Nino developing in the second half of 2026, which could exacerbate drought conditions across the archipelago.

Funds on the ground running out

Mr Supriyadi, head of Riau province’s communication, informatics and statistics department, confirmed on April 22 that the allocated fund in his province to fight fire in 2026 has been used up.

“The Riau disaster management agency has requested additional funding. We will take from the emergency fund in our coffers and disburse the fund promptly,” Mr Supriyadi, who goes by one name, told ST.

The tight budget is also being felt in Kalimantan.

The April 18 edition of Tempo weekly magazine reported that Limbung village in Kubu Raya regency of West Kalimantan province received an annual firefighting budget in 2026 that is only a tenth of its usual allocation due to the nationwide government efficiency drives.

Mr Elly Prianto, head of Limbung village Masyarakat Peduli Api (Indonesian for “Fire-Care Community”) – a local, organised unit tasked with preventing and fighting forest and land fire – attributed the recent blazes to a halt in peatland watering.

Between early February and April, fires engulfed 200ha of peatland there, according to Tempo magazine.

“The village’s 20 water hoses and five water pumps have sat idle for the past year. This equipment is rarely used because the operational budget for logistics and fuel has been slashed,” Tempo magazine reported, citing Mr Elly.

On Jan 31, a domestic Wings Air flight from Ketapang to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province was forced to divert to Pangkalpinang, more than 400km south-west, due to severe haze from ongoing forest fires.

The sudden decision was made mid-air just as the aircraft was circling above Pontianak in preparation for landing.

​The abrupt diversion caught many passengers off guard, including Mr Theo Bernadhi, who shared his experience with local news portal TribunPontianak.com after touching down.

“From the cabin, we could clearly see the thick smoke that prompted our pilot to decide to land in Pangkalpinang instead,” Mr Theo said.

“We certainly hoped to arrive at our original destination, but safety is the priority.”

Decreased rainfall and emergence of hot spots in Riau in early 2026 prompted the provincial administration to declare an emergency alert for forest and land fires on Feb 13, which is to remain in effect until Nov 30.

A hot spot – typically covering at least 1 sq km – is a thermal anomaly detected by satellites that indicates a potential active fire on the ground.

Riau is Indonesia’s second-closest province to Singapore, after the Riau Islands, home to Batam. The province consists of 10 regencies and two cities.

Riau’s location on the Equator subjects it to two dry spells a year – one early in the year and another in mid-year.

Most parts of Indonesia typically experience only a single mid-year dry season.

Following the emergency alert, the Riau administration can request assistance from Jakarta, which has so far deployed water-bombing helicopters and cloud-seeding aircraft, through the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and other agencies.

Will Jakarta step in?

Jakarta’s assistance has so far focused on the skies, with cloud-seeding aircraft and water-bombing helicopters being deployed.

ST understands that Riau, which requested five to eight water-bombing helicopters, has received two – with more expected if conditions worsen.

Riau province’s Mr Supriyadi said things are under control in the Sumatran province. He added that Jakarta has used national resources to help since mid-February, when the province declared an emergency status for forest and land fires.

Mr Supriyadi said he was confident in President Prabowo Subianto’s leadership. He expected efforts to ramp up promptly and that timely assistance from Jakarta would increase, emphasising that firefighting will undoubtedly remain a top budget priority.

Dr Abdul Muhari, BNPB’s head of data, information and communication, said the agency coordinated 54 cloud-seeding sorties in Riau between March 28 and April 19, dispersing 54,000kg of rain-inducing substance.

On the ground, however, provinces have been left to manage firefighting on their own – provinces that, in some cases, have already run out of money to do it.

Dr Abdul said that the government has learnt lessons from El Nino – from the strong El Nino of 2015 to the weak one of 2019 and the moderate type of 2023.

“The national government will always continue to make optimal efforts to mitigate the El Nino impacts,” Dr Abdul said.