Indonesia: Riau Fires Burn Through 848 Hectares of Land, Haze Continues

Jakarta Globe 30 Jul 14;

Jakarta. Indonesia’s disaster-management agency reported on Wednesday that at least 848 hectares of land had been left depleted of forest cover and charred by fires that have burned with increasing intensity over the last week.

“The land [disaster] task force reported that 848 hectares have been burned,” said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of National Disaster Agency, as quoted by the state-run Antara news agency on Wednesday.

The government in Riau has declared an alert after the air quality dropped into hazardous levels. Fires sent acrid pollution into residential areas in Riau, increasing the risk of respiratory infections and the onset of asthma.

According to the BNPB, there were 143 hot spots detected on Tuesday — most of which were concentrated in Rokan Hilir district.

Sutopo said that the aerial task force was dropping water from helicopters and sending air force planes into the worst-affected areas to seed clouds for artificial rain.

Around 700 officers from military and police were working with officers from the forestry ministry and volunteers from Riau’s Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Forest fires are frequently caused by local people burning patches of forest cover in order to open up the land for agricultural use — most commonly for palm oil plantation.

“Many people and groups are still intensively burning the forest causing an increase in the number of hot spots,” Sutopo said.

Meanwhile, West Kalimantan also continued to by affected by forest fires and hotspots. Some 268 were detected on Tuesday.

Indonesian hotspots still need prompt response
Andi Abdussalam Antara 30 Jul 14;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra, particularly in Riau Province, where fires have burnt 25 thousand hectares of forest and land this year, still require speedy actions.

As forest fires are increasing in the two provinces of Riau in Sumatra and West Kalimantan in Kalimantan, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is taking immediate measures.

"The BNPB took immediate steps after it received information that forest fires were on the rise in the two provinces," BNPBs Head of Data Information Center and Public Relations Sutopo Purwono Nugroho said through an electronic message to ANTARA News on Wednesday.

The Terra and Aqua Satellites had detected 417 hotspots in Riau Province on Monday last week, indicating an increase in widespread wildfires in the province.

According to the BNPB data, 417 hotspots were detected in Riau on Monday (July 21) at 5 a.m. local time last week, while a total of 570 hotspots were detected in Sumatra.

However, data has revealed that the number of hotspots actually have shown a downward trend this week in Riau.

"The number of hotspots on Tuesday had declined from 133 on Monday in Sumatra, of which 85 have been found in Riau Province," Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Head Said Saqlul Amri told the press.

The hotspots dropped further on Tuesday (July 29). The US NOAA18 satellite operated by Singapore had detected 98 hotspots, of which 37 were in Riau Province, Said Saqlul Amri stated.

The 37 hotspots detected on Wednesday in Riau Province were scattered across several districts and municipalities such as Indragiri Hulu and Pelalawan, where 9 hotspots were found, respectively.

The BPBD has also revealed that the districts of Bengkalis had 7 hotspots; Dumai City 3; Rokan Hulu Siak and Kampar 2, respectively; Rokan Hilir 1; Indragiri Hilir and Kuantan Sengigi 1, respectively.

However, the Terra and Aqua satellites at 5 p.m. local time had recorded only 18 hotspots in Riau Province. Of the 18, eight were found in Pelalawan, 3 each in Kuatan Singingi and Roak Hilir, and 2 in Indragiri Hulu.

The other two hotspots were found in the districts of Kampar and Indragiri Hilir, respectively.

In 2014, forest fires have destroyed 25 thousand hectares of forest and land, which has resulted in the contamination of air over Riau Province.

During the current Idul Fitri holiday celebrations, hotspots have continued to emerge in Riau Province, engulfing at least 848 hectares of forest land.

"The land-based task force has reported that a total of 848 hectares of forest area has been gutted by fires. The fire continues to spread in affected areas, and because many sites are inaccessible, they have not yet been documented," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated on Wednesday.

Therefore, the Riau regional government has not yet lifted the haze alert status in the province, while the joint task forces continue to carry out their tasks.

According to Sutopo, the air task force has also continued to operate helicopters to drop water bombs and to modify the weather to produce artificial rain.

In the meantime, law enforcers have also acted upon suspects related to forest fires.

The Riau police have arrested and named 183 people who had allegedly committed crimes of burning bushes or forests.

A total of 116 suspects have been nabbed while conducting forest crime activities during the January-March period, while 67 others were named as suspects during the period between April 5 and July 10.

"The number of suspects could increase because the on-field team is still on the lookout for criminals responsible for new forest fires," stated spokesman of Riau Police Adjunct Senior Commissioner Guntur Aryo Tejo.

While police have arrested suspected criminals, Riau Governor Annas Maamun has also called on all district heads and mayors of regions that have suffered from forest fires to take anticipatory steps in response to emerging hotspots.

Besides hotspots in Riau Province, the government is also responding to the forest fire cases in Kalimantan, particularly West Kalimantan Province.

The BNPB has sent a helicopter in anticipation of forest fires in the West Kalimantan Province.

Data show that hotspots are now on the rise in the province. The Terra and Aqua satellites on Tuesday (July 29) had detected 268 hotspots in West Kalimantan.

For this, BNPB Head Syamsul Maarif has ordered to send an MI-8 helicopter to the province.

"Syamsul Maarif, the BNPB head has asked to dispatch an MI-8 helicopter from Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, to Pontianak, West Kalimantan, which will be used to drop water bombs," Sutopo noted in his electronic message to Antara on Wednesday.

In West Kalimantan, 15 hotspots were detected in Bengkayang district, 25 in Kapuas Hulu, 7 in Kayong Utara, 19 in Ketapang, and 15 in Kubu Raya.

Eight hotspots were detected in Landa and Melawi, respectively, while 19 hotspots were detected in Pontianak, 65 in Sambas, 33 in Sanggau, 5 in Sekadau, 2 in Singkawang, and 47 in Sintang.
(T.A014/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)

NOAA18 satellite detects 98 hotspots in Sumatra
Antara 30 Jul 14;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - The United States NOAA18 satellite operated by Singapore has detected 98 hotspots in Sumatra on Tuesday, of which 37 were in Riau province, according to an official from the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).

"The number of hotspots on Tuesday had declined from 133 recorded on the previous day in Sumatra, of which 85 were found in Riau Province," BPBD Head Said Saqlul Amri informed the press on Wednesday.

The 37 hotspots detected on Wednesday were scattered across several districts and municipalities such as Indragiri Hulu and Pelalawan where 9 hotspots were respectively found.

The BPBD also revealed that the districts of Bengkalis had 7 hotspots, Dumai City 3 hotspots, Rokan Hulu Siak and Kampar respectively 2, Rokan Hilir 1, Indragiri Hilir and Kuantan Sengigi respectively 1 hotspot.

However, the Modis Terra and Aqua satellites at 5 p.m. local time recorded only 18 hotspots in Riau Province. Of the 18, eight were found in Pelalawan, 3 in Kuatan Singingi and Roak Hilir, and 2 in Indragiri Hulu.

The other two hotspots were respectively found in the districts of Kampar and Indragiri Hilir.

In 2014, forest fires have destroyed 25 thousand hectares of forest and land, which resulted in the contamination of air over the Riau province.

Riau Governor Annas Maamun had previously called on all district heads and mayors of regions that suffered from forest fires to take anticipatory steps.

In connection with forest fire cases, the Riau police has arrested and named 183 people who had allegedly committed crimes of burning bushes or forests.

A total of 116 suspects were nabbed while conducting forest crime activities during the January-March period while 67 others were named suspects during the period between April 5 and July 10.

"The number of suspects could still increase because the on-field team is still on the lookout for criminals responsible for new forest fires," stated spokesman of Riau Police Adjunct Senior Commissioner Guntur Aryo Tejo.

In the meantime, the Terra and Aqua Satellites detected 417 hotspots in Riau Province on Monday last week, indicating an increase in widespread forest fires in the province.

According to Head of Data and Information Division of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Agus Wibowo, 417 hotspots were detected on Monday (July 21) at 5 a.m. local time, while a total of 570 hotspots were detected in Sumatra.

Data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) revealed that the number of hotspots had been increasing over the past two days. A total of 75 hotspots had been detected on Saturday (July 19) and 154 on Sunday.

The hotspots are spread across 11 districts in Riau, mostly in Rokan Hilir District with 327 hotspots, followed by Bengkalis with 27, and Rokan Hulu with 21.

The confidence level of the data is 70 percent, indicating that the hotspots had reached 273. The region with the highest number of hotspots is Rokan Hilir, with 223 hotspots.

"The Rokan Hilir Administration has been urged to step up measures to prevent forest fires," Wibowo emphasized.

The potential of forest fires may increase as Riau is forecast to receive below-average rainfall.

"The wind direction has a potential to carry the haze to Malaysia," Wibowo added.

The haze has reduced the visibility range in Pelalawan and Indragiri Hulu to four to five kilometers.

A haze disaster alert status has been issued by the Riau Administration as the forest fire potential is still high due to the dry season and the El Nino effect.

The Haze Disaster Alert Task Force of Riau is fighting the fires with the support of the land personnel, three waterborne helicopters, and weather modification technology applications to create artificial rain.

Data from the task force has revealed that at least 499 hectares of land had caught fire, and 429 hectares have been extinguished.
(Uu.A014/INE/KR-BSR)