How Close Are Wildfires to Nusantara's Government Core?

September 9, 2026 | 01:03 pm

Plaza Bhinneka Tunggal Ika di Kawasan Inti Pusat Pemerintahan di Ibu Kota Nusantara, Penajam Paser Utara, Kalimantan Timur, 18 Februari 2026. Antara/M Risyal Hidayat

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Wildfires burning at several locations within the delineated area of Indonesia's new capital, Nusantara (IKN), remain far from the Central Government Core Area (KIPP), according to Danis Sumadilaga, a special adviser to the IKN Authority's head for construction policy and strategy management.Danis said the fires were being handled to prevent them from spreading to other areas."The closest fire is about 30 to 40 kilometers from the Central Government Core Area of Nusantara," Danis said in a written statement on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.Danis also clarified that the 458 hectares reported as affected did not represent the total area that had burned. The figure refers to an area containing several separate fire hotspots."The actual burned area is smaller because the fires are concentrated at several hotspots," he said.Bukit Tengkorak and Wonotirto are among the locations receiving the most attention from the IKN Authority. On Tuesday, September 8, teams also detected a new hotspot near Kilometer 31 of the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road.The hotspot was subsequently handled by a joint team from the IKN Authority, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police, and toll-road operator Jasa Marga. The operation also involved water bombing by the Indonesian Air Force.Although the number of hotspots has declined, teams continue to conduct patrols and monitor the affected areas."Even if new hotspots emerge, they can be dealt with immediately before the fires spread," Danis said.Earlier, President Prabowo Subianto warned that the wildfires must not spread to IKN's core zone in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan. He urged authorities to deploy available assets to prevent the fires from reaching the area."Don't let the fires reach the core zone," Prabowo said during a limited meeting on disaster response at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday, September 7, 2026.During the hybrid meeting, National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Chief Lt. Gen. Suharyanto reported that 458 hectares of land in the Bukit Soeharto Grand Forest Park had been burned.He said teams were still working to contain the fires in the area.As of September 7, Suharyanto said, the total burned area across six provinces - West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Riau, South Sumatra and Jambi - had reached 72,008 hectares. Authorities had extinguished fires across 71,274.29 hectares of the affected land.