US satellite detects 61 hot spots in Sumatra

Antara 20 Jan 12;

Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) has detected 61 hot spots on Sumatra Island, according to the Ketaping Padang meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency (BMKG).

The hot spots were detected in West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu and South Sumatra Provinces, and producing haze that is blanketing the areas," Padang BMKG head Syafrizal said here on Thursday.

Most of the hot spots were located in Riau Province and around 20 in West Sumatra.

Syafrizal could not confirm whether the hot spots were from forest fires or burning to clear new land in plantation areas.

"The haze will go during rains which will also extinguish the hot spots that produced the haze," he said.

The BMKG predicted that rains would fall this week.

The Indonesian government appears to be determined to reduce the number of forest fire hot spots by 20 percent annually in order to help meet the country`s pledge to cut its gas emissions by 26 percent by 2020.

Around 77 percent of forest fires in Indonesia have occurred in plantation and agricultural areas, and only 23 percent in forest area, as fire has been considered the cheapest, fastest, and most effective a land clearing method.(*)

Editor: Heru