Disaster

House Presses Prabowo to Act Fast on Forest Fires: 277,000 ARI Cases

Stateline MEDIA Newsroom•October 16, 2026•3 min read

Commission IV of Indonesia's House of Representatives, through member Alex, urged President Prabowo to act fast on the forest fires. The Health Ministry recorded 277,075 cumulative ARI cases across 63 regencies/cities in 7 provinces, with 62,400 cases striking toddlers.

Key Facts

Commission IV of Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) highlighted the deadly forest and land fires (karhutla) sweeping several Indonesian regions in recent months; Commission IV member Alex urged President Prabowo Subianto to take immediate action.
The fires have caused 277,075 cumulative cases of acute respiratory infection (ARI), according to Health Ministry data covering 63 regencies/cities across 7 affected provinces as of October 12, 2026; 62,400 cases — 22.5 percent — struck children aged 0-5.
Alex recorded 324 people with severe injuries and 23 with minor injuries from the fires, mostly in Central Kalimantan.
Alex advised President Prabowo to disclose data on companies linked to land concessions and fire hotspots, after the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and Greenpeace Indonesia revealed 52 foreign-capital-affiliated companies tied to the fires.
The Health Ministry deployed 2,106 medical and health workers to handle the health fallout from the fires, along with medical equipment, medicines, and protective gear.
According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the 2026 fires began from January to June with 107,465 to 202,004 hectares burned, then spread to Papua, Sumatra, and Kalimantan in July and worsened sharply in August 2026.

House Urges President to Act Fast

Commission IV of Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) has highlighted the deadly forest and land fires (karhutla) sweeping several Indonesian regions in recent months, including the deaths of four officers and workers who perished while fighting the fires in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) area.

Commission IV member Alex urged President Prabowo Subianto to take immediate action. "We urge the president: do not wait for more victims to fall. If this country lacks the equipment, surely many nations would be willing to help, as Japan did some time ago," Alex said in a written statement on Friday (10/16/2026).

Alex stressed that the fires no longer merely damage public health but have claimed lives and wiped out rare plants and wildlife. He questioned how long this recurring crisis would be left without a thorough resolution.

277,000 ARI Cases, 62,400 Toddlers

The health toll of the fires is staggering. According to Health Ministry data as of October 12, 2026, there were 277,075 cumulative cases of acute respiratory infection (ARI) across 63 regencies and cities in seven affected provinces. Of that total, 62,400 cases — 22.5 percent — were suffered by children aged 0 to 5.

Alex also recorded 324 people with severe injuries and 23 with minor injuries from the fires, mostly in Central Kalimantan. The Health Ministry explained that wildfire smoke contains fine PM2.5 particles, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and toxic organic compounds that can trigger ARI, eye and skin irritation, and worsen asthma and lung disease.

In response, the Health Ministry deployed 2,106 medical and health workers along with medical equipment, medicines, and protective gear to the affected regions.

'Lungs of the World' Image and 52 Companies

Alex warned that the fires must not destroy Indonesia's image as the lungs of the world. He pointed to the emergence of memes about the smoke haze, or "jerebu," in Malaysia as proof that Indonesia's fires are also felt by neighboring countries.

To clarify the response, Alex advised President Prabowo to disclose data on companies identified as linked to land concessions and fire hotspots. He noted that the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and Greenpeace Indonesia have revealed 52 foreign-capital-affiliated companies tied to forest fires in Indonesia.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the 2026 fires began from January to June with 107,465 to 202,004 hectares burned. In July 2026 the hotspots spread to Papua, Sumatra, and Kalimantan, then worsened sharply in August with hundreds of thousands of hectares burning in West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Papua.