ANN/THE JAKARTA POST – Bali’s acting governor SM Mahendra Jaya declared a state of emergency on the resort island for the next two weeks. This is following prolonged drought and an increase in land and forest fires. The directive issued in a governor’s circular, impacts all regencies and cities across the province in Indonesia, including Denpasar, Badung, Bangli, Buleleng, Gianyar, Jembrana, Karangasem, Klungkung and Tabanan.
The policy will be enforced until November 1. It can be extended or shortened as needed. The emergency status was declared to help ease access for the deployment of human resources, equipment and other logistics for disaster mitigation, said head of the Bali Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD-Bali) Made Rentin.
With the status in force, the provincial administration will be able to instruct other institutions to take an active role in mitigating the disaster. “The BPBD gains access to all the resources we need to put a handle on the drought and fires,” Rentin said yesterday.
