Wildfires spread near Indonesia's new capital, prompting calls for action

Wildfires have begun spreading near Indonesia's under-construction new capital, prompting project authorities to urge the disaster mitigation agency to carry out cloud-seeding and water-bombing operations, officials said.

Indonesia has intensified efforts to contain haze in six provinces hit the hardest by forest and land fires in Borneo and Sumatra islands, which so far have reached 73,311 hectares.

Wildfires have been raging in a number of spots on Borneo Island, but the eastern part, where the new capital, Nusantara, is located, has been relatively safe in the weeks since the fires began to worsen with the onset of the dry season in July.

Now, however, fires have spread to some areas around the capital, prompting the request for action from the authority overseeing the project, said Agus Riyanto, director for emergency response at the disaster mitigation agency.

Disaster response and mitigation teams in the Southeast Asian archipelago are facing the most challenging dry season in a decade, exacerbated by a "super El Nino" phenomenon.

The biggest of the fires in the new capital territory, Agus said, was at a forest park at Bukit Suharto, or Suharto Hill, named after the autocratic former president, where around 300 hectares have burned.

Bukit Suharto is around 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the city centre, which houses a number of major projects built over the last few years for the new capital.

In total, fires had burned around 400 hectares surrounding Nusantara as of September 2.

NEW CAPITAL PLAN HAS FACED DELAYS

President Prabowo Subianto's predecessor, Joko Widodo, announced a plan to build the $32 billion Nusantara capital city project in 2019 to replace Jakarta, on the island of Java, which faces chronic congestion, floods and land subsidence.

But the project has faced delays and budget cuts since Prabowo took office in 2024.

Wisnubroto Sarosa, an urban and planning expert, said Nusantara was not an ideal location for the new capital as it was surrounded by forests and had limited water supplies, though the fire risk was less than in the western and central provinces of the island, which Indonesia shares with Malaysia and Brunei.

Indonesia has 53 aircraft currently carrying out water bombing and seeding activities. Japan has also sent over aircraft and personnel to assist, authorities said.

The disaster mitigation agency said a helicopter would be sent from neighbouring South Kalimantan to carry out water bombing around Nusantara.

Clouds in the area were still insufficient for seeding, but the disaster agency would do so when it was possible, Agus said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Muslims gathered in front of the state palace in Nusantara to perform 'Istisqo' prayers on Friday, asking for rain.

"We must seek God's forgiveness and if it's granted, Allah will send abundant rain," Rusdi Abdullah, the preacher, said.