BALI: A state of emergency has been declared on this island for two weeks due to an extended drought and peatland and forest fires.
The directive was issued by Bali's Acting Governor, SM Mahendra Jaya, on Thursday in a gubernatorial statement involving all cities across the region, including Denpasar and Badung.
The directive will be enforced until Nov 1 and may be extended or shortened if necessary.
According to the head of Bali's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD-BALI), Made Rentin, the state of emergency has been declared to facilitate access to mobilise human resources, equipment, and other logistics to reduce the impact of the disaster.
With the enacted status, the local administration will be able to direct other institutions to actively participate in disaster reduction efforts.
"BPBD will have access to all the resources we need to address the drought and fires," Made told the Jakarta Post.
Last Thursday, Mahendra said there was no reason to be alarmed, as the decision to elevate the disaster alert status had been made sensibly as a way to mobilise resources.
Prolonged drought has affected the entire tourism-dependent island since July, with at least 113 traditional banjars (villages) facing a clean water crisis.
The most affected areas include villages in Buleleng, Jembrana, and Karangasem.
"Drought and the clean water crisis may spread to other areas if there is no rain in the coming days," Mahendra said during a meeting with the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in Denpasar.
According to data from the Meteorological Bureau in Denpasar, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), three regions across the island have not received rainfall for 94 consecutive days.
The prolonged dry season in Bali, partly due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, has caused the drought.
It has also led to numerous forest and land fires, with at least seven forest fires reported between July and October; two in Buleleng, four in Karangasem, and one in Bangli.
Three solid waste disposal sites have also caught fire, and authorities are still struggling to extinguish the fires after over a week, including at Bali's largest garbage disposal site in Suwung, Denpasar.
In addition, two other facilities facing fires are the Mandung garbage disposal site in Tabanan and the Temesi disposal site in Gianyar.
Local authorities have warned that fires at garbage disposal sites, if not extinguished, could threaten the health of nearby residents.
With the enforcement of a state of emergency, Rentin is optimistic that the disaster can be swiftly mitigated.
The head of BNPB, Lieutenant General Suharyanto, has promised to deploy more aircraft for weather modification operations in Bali once the fires in Sumatera and Kalimantan are extinguished.