Manokwari, Jubi – The West Papua provincial government has been criticised for its response to forest and land fires, with smoke haze continuing to affect several parts of the province.
West Papua Legislative Council (DPR Papua Barat) chairman Orgenes Wonggor said the provincial government had not done enough to tackle the fires, which have caused haze in several areas.
Forest and land fires, smoke haze and a clean water crisis have affected Fakfak, Teluk Bintuni, Kaimana, Teluk Wondama and South Manokwari regencies. Wonggor said emergency disaster funds were allocated every year to deal with such situations.
The situation is particularly severe in Fakfak, where smoke haze has begun affecting residents in urban areas and communities have faced a clean water shortage in recent months.
“The provincial government, particularly the relevant agencies, has not done enough to address this problem. When the season changes from the wet season to the dry season, there should already be a team in place. For example, the Forestry Agency should know its role, as should the Health Agency, the Plantation Agency and the Regional Disaster Management Agency,” Wonggor said on Wednesday, 30 September 2026.
He said smoke from the fires could cause respiratory illnesses, while drought was making it difficult for residents to access clean water and causing farmers’ crops to fail.
“The team should already be in place and ready to respond as soon as a disaster occurs. We should not wait for a disaster to happen before forming a team,” said Wonggor, a Golkar Party politician.
He said disaster response should not be left solely to district governments and that the provincial government also had a role to play.
In Karas District, Fakfak Regency, West Papua, residents are dealing with both smoke haze from forest and land fires and a drought that has lasted for the past three months.
“Forest fires have started appearing during this dry season, from behind Pulau Tiga to the area beside Karas Port,” said Rizal Rumodar, a resident of Malakuli village in Karas District.
Rumodar said the fires had been burning for about two weeks. Nutmeg trees have been destroyed by the flames, while several residents’ gardens have also been affected.
“The fire started inside the forest, and people in Karas District don’t know exactly what caused it. All we know is that it spread because of the hot and dry conditions,” he said.
As smoke haze spread across Karas District, the Fakfak Education, Youth and Sports Agency temporarily suspended classroom activities at several schools.
The affected schools include Karas State Primary School, Karas State Junior High School and Karas Senior High School.
Poor visibility caused by the smoke haze has also forced some fishermen in Karas District to stay on shore.
Rolly, who has not gone fishing for two weeks because of the haze, said visibility at sea had become too poor. “We’ve stopped going out to sea because of these conditions. For now, we just have to stay home and get through it. You can’t see clearly when you’re out at sea because of the haze,” Rolly said.
He said there was little residents could do but adapt to the conditions.
“What else can we do? We are afraid something could happen if we force ourselves to go out to sea. So it’s better to stay at home and do whatever work we can,” he said.
Fakfak Police chief AKBP Naim Ishak said police had spent the past several days educating residents about the haze and distributing masks at several locations.
“Today, we distributed around 600 masks to schoolchildren and residents at schools, including Fakfak State Junior High School 1 and Fakfak State Primary School 2,” Naim Ishak said. (*)
