Honor for Palangka Raya Forest Fire Volunteers Overdue, Budget at Risk of Going Negative
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- Puluhan petugas dan relawan pemadam karhutla di Palangka Raya belum menerima upah harian selama hampir dua bulan.
- Komisi III DPRD mempertanyakan ketersediaan anggaran di APBD murni 2026 atau perlunya menunggu APBD Perubahan.
- Sekretaris Daerah mengakui kemampuan fiskal Pemko Palangka Raya mulai terkuras dan berpotensi defisit pada awal Oktober 2026.
The Palangka Raya city government faces dual pressure: the operation to extinguish forest and land fires (karhutla) is not yet complete, while the obligation to pay the honoraria of hundreds of personnel in the field is nearly two months overdue. Member of Commission III of the Palangka Raya DPRD, Arief M Norkim, revealed that officers and volunteers still actively on duty have not received their rights since around early August 2026.
The issue came to light after Arief held direct dialogue with a number of task force members and volunteers on Saturday (26/9). In that meeting, the officers said their daily wages had not been paid. "They said the honoraria owed to them have not been received for nearly two months," Arief said on Tuesday (29/9), as quoted from detikKalteng.
According to Arief, this delay cannot be allowed to drag on. He assessed that the regional government needs to immediately provide clarity, especially regarding which budget line will be used. Commission III questioned whether funds for paying the honoraria are still available in the 2026 original APBD or must wait for the approval of the Revised APBD. "We need to know clearly whether the budget in the 2026 original APBD is still available or whether it must wait for the Revised APBD," he stressed.
The increasingly heavy fiscal burden was confirmed by the Regional Secretary of Palangka Raya, Arbert Tombak. He revealed that the handling of karhutla, which has lasted for months, has drained the region's financial capacity. "Our APBD can no longer cope. In fact, by early October, our APBD will already be negative," Arbert said on Wednesday (30/9), quoted from detikKalimantan.
Arbert explained that the emergency response status set since June 2026 has forced the city government to disburse operational funds continuously. Those needs include logistics, transportation, and personnel support in the field. However, the length of the response period has made spending disproportionate to the region's cash capacity. "The region's financial capacity has limits," he said.
"Prolonged karhutla not only drains the energy of officers in the field, but also pressures the fiscal capacity of the regional government." — Arbert Tombak, Regional Secretary of Palangka Raya
The impact, Arbert said, is not only felt in firefighting operations. The rights of personnel battling heat and smoke have also been delayed. He confirmed that the daily funds or wages for the officers involved have not been paid to date. The Palangka Raya city government, he added, has prepared budget reinforcement through the Revised APBD, but ongoing needs make additional support from the provincial and central governments necessary.
In a broader context, this issue reflects the vulnerability of fire-prone regions in Indonesia. Every year, Kalimantan and Sumatra face a dry season that triggers hotspots. However, regional fiscal readiness is often not commensurate with the intensity of the disaster. When the APBD is drained for emergency response, other posts such as infrastructure and public services risk being affected. In Palangka Raya, the delay in honoraria is a signal that the disaster funding system needs evaluation, especially ahead of the next dry season.
The Palangka Raya DPRD is urging that deliberations on the Revised APBD be accelerated. Arief asked that the disbursement of honoraria not be delayed again once the budget is available. "Do not let these payments continue to be delayed. They are still on duty in the field and need certainty," he said. He also reminded that delays can dampen the morale of volunteers who have so far worked without adequate welfare guarantees.
The Palangka Raya city government is now at a crossroads: keeping firefighting operations running while ensuring personnel rights are fulfilled. If the Revised APBD is not immediately approved, a wave of protests from field officers is not out of the question. The question is whether the central government will step in to provide emergency assistance, or whether the region must bear alone an increasingly mounting burden.
