Jakarta, Sept. 5 -- Indonesia's Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni said the government is relying on ground operations to handle forest and land fires, particularly on peatlands like in West Kalimantan.

In a statement received here on Saturday, Juli Antoni noted ground operations are more effective at tackling fires on the front lines than relying solely on aerial firefighting.

"Our ground personnel are our main line of defense while we wait for weather modification operations or natural rain once the rainy season comes," he said.

He noted West Kalimantan shows potential for rain clouds between September 4 to 8, which authorities will optimise all efforts for weather modification.

Antoni emphasised any viable seed cloud will be uti...