August 26, 2026 | 03:01 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the government is ready to provide additional funding for efforts to tackle forest and land fires, with the funds available once the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) submits a request.
“The money is ready. It depends on what BNPB’s operations require,” Purbaya told reporters at the Finance Ministry in Jakarta on Wednesday, August 26.
BNPB currently has Rp5 trillion ($299 million) allocated for national disaster response. The Finance Ministry has yet to provide additional funding for forest and land fires because BNPB has not submitted a request detailing its needs.
“BNPB hasn’t provided the total funding requirement, so we don’t know how much is needed. The fires are still ongoing, and BNPB will reassess the situation,” Purbaya said.
He estimated the additional funding would likely be lower than what was needed for the disasters in Aceh, where the scale of the damage was much greater.
Purbaya said BNPB could request additional funding without a predetermined cap, but stressed that the agency must ensure there was no price inflation or manipulation in its spending requests.
“Just don’t inflate the prices. Disaster response is different from regular government spending because it concerns people’s lives and directly threatens their safety. So we will take a different approach from other programs,” he said.
Government Mobilizes Resources to Fight Fires
The funding pledge comes as President Prabowo Subianto has said the government is taking an integrated approach to responding to natural disasters and extreme weather, including forest and land fires.
Speaking at the launch of a 100-gigawatt-peak solar power program at the Gilimanuk solar power plant site in Jembrana, Bali, on August 25, Prabowo said the government was addressing forest and land fires in several regions through a coordinated, cross-sector response backed by substantial resources.
Prabowo expressed optimism that the fires could be brought under control soon after the government deployed additional resources to tackle them.
“I think the situation is now starting to be brought under control and mitigated in several places. I hope everything can be resolved within the next one or two weeks,” he said.
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