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JAKARTA \u2013 A blame game has erupted between some of Indonesia\u2019s provincial authorities and the central government as forest fires scorch<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/a>Kalimantan and Sumatra.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Central Kalimantan\u2019s administration under Governor Agustiar Sabran, pressed by Jakarta to step up firefighting, has publicly complained that forest concession permits are issued by the central government, while the provincial authorities and residents are left to deal with the fires.<\/p>\n Similar complaints have not been publicly voiced by provincial leaders in Sumatra.<\/p>\n Since the 2020 Job Creation Law centralised licensing powers, authority over business activities in forest areas has rested largely with Jakarta.<\/p>\n The row has now spilt onto the streets, <\/i><\/b>with protest rallies held by the students of a few universities in Central Kalimantan, piling further pressure on the local government.<\/p>\n On Oct 19, a female university student led a protest outside the governor\u2019s office in Palangka Raya, where she urged Agustiar to take bolder measures, including pressing the central government to declare the fires a national disaster. A TikTok video of the protest, with 26,000 likes and 888 comments as at the morning of Oct 20, has since circulated widely.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have suffered greatly for more than four months,\u201d she said at the gate of the office.<\/p>\n She then mocked a banner that read: \u201cCentral Kalimantan free of haze 2026. Preventing forest fires starts with us\u201d, emphasising that both the provincial and central governments had been warned about the intensity of this year\u2019s El Nino since February, but <\/b>failed to take action.<\/p>\n Agustiar listened calmly, surrounded by his deputies, aides and police officers, but did not respond. He promised to return to answer the protesters after praying, but he never reappeared, angering the students.<\/p>\n