Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 30 Jun 15;
The light haze currently blanketing Dumai and several other cities in Riau, namely Bengkalis, Pelalawan, Pekanbaru and Rokan Hilir, was caused by land and forest fires both from areas within Riau and from other provinces, according to the head of the Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Edwar Sanger.
“Land and forest fires have also occurred in Jambi and South Sumatra. Riau is receiving smoke from those two provinces, as winds are currently blowing from south to north,” said Edwar.
A land and forest fire post at Roesmin Nurjadin Airport in Pekanbaru, he said, had continued to extinguish fire spots through land operations and weather modification technology.
“While it is still in the medium category, the air quality in Riau has begun to worsen; therefore, our task force will strive to overcome fires in all areas, to avoid negative impacts on people’s health and activities,” said Edwar.
Based on Terra and Aqua satellite data collected by the Pekanbaru chapter of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), two hot spots were detected in Dumai on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, 15 hot spots were detected in Dumai’s neighboring regency, Bengkalis. Four hot spots were found in Siak while Rokan Hilir and Meranti Islands had three hot spots. One hot spot was found in Meranti Islands.
“In total, 45 hot spots have been detected in Riau, 17 of which are in Pelalawan regency. Three hot spots have been found in Indragiri Hulu,” said BMKG Pekanbaru’s data and information head, Slamet Riyadi.
“Meanwhile, 27 of the 45 hot spots have been indicated as fire spots with a reliability level of more than 70 percent. Pelalawan has 13 fire spots, followed by Bengkalis [11], Dumai [2] and Indragiri Hulu [1],” he said, adding that the high number of fires and hot spots in Riau was due to low rainfall and high temperatures in the province. (ebf)(+++)
Haze disrupts Pinang Kampai Airport’s activities
Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 30 Jun 15;
Reduced visibility caused by smoke haze currently blanketing Dumai, Riau, has disrupted flight schedules at Pinang Kampai Airport over the last three days.
Airport head Catur Hargowo said the limited visibility, which reached only two kilometers on Tuesday, had forced a Transnusa aircraft departing from Halim Perdanakusumah Airport in Jakarta to delay its landing for up to 30 minutes from its initial schedule of 8:30 a.m.
“It was fortunate that the scheduled departure of the same aircraft at 9:30 a.m. was not disrupted by haze. Limited visibility occurred only in the morning and after 9 a.m., the visibility returned to normal, reaching four kilometers, as the wind dispersed and moved the smoke out of the area,” Catur told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
On Monday, the arrival and departure of a Transnusa flight serving a similar route was also delayed for half an hour due to thick haze. On Sunday, haze delayed departure and arrival schedules of three flights by around 20-30 minutes. They were Transnusa and Pelita Air flights serving the Halim–Dumai–Halim route and Transnusa serving the Dumai–Batam–Dumai route.
“Aircraft pilots will take off and land only if visibility at Pinang Kampai Airport reaches four kilometers. This is the standard operating procedure,” said Catur.
He said aircraft could land at airports in Pekanbaru and other big cities with limited visibility of only around 700 meters due to the airports’ adequate supporting equipment, such as radars and runway lighting.
“Pinang Kampai Airport does not yet have runway lighting which can direct pilots. They can only depend on runway markings and guidance from the control tower when they land or take off. That’s why pilots are more careful and don’t want to take any risks over limited visibility,” said Catur.
He said that so far, haze had not reduced the number of Riau residents traveling via air.
“The occupancy rate of Transnusa, which serves general passengers, is still around 80 percent. Meanwhile, the Pelita Air aircraft was chartered by [state-owned oil and gas company] Pertamina,” said Catur.
He hoped the government could immediately extinguish land fires both in Dumai and neighboring regencies to prevent haze that disrupted airport activities. (ebf) (++++)
Riau authorities extinguish 10 bushfires
Antara 30 Jun 15;
Pekanbaru (ANTARA News) - The fire brigade and disaster mitigation office of Pekanbaru, Riau Province, has extinguished bushfires in at least 10 locations during the period between January and June 2015.
During the six-month period, the office received reports of 78 fire incidents including bushfires, Head of the Pekanbaru fire brigade and disaster mitigation office Burhan Gurning stated here, Tuesday.
"Of the total incidents, 10 were bushfires," he noted.
In the current dry season, wild fires were easily triggered by fires used for trash burning and land clearing activities, according to Gurning.
He has sent reminders to the heads of 12 sub-districts in Pekanbaru regarding the prohibition on using fires to clear land and burn trash during the dry season.
Meanwhile, the Terra and Aqua satellites detected 207 hotspots indicating forest and plantation fires across Sumatra Island on Sunday (June 28).
"Of the 207 hotspots, 70 were detected in Riau Province," Pekanbaru Meteorological, Climatology, And Geophysics Station Head Sugarin stated.
Sugarin pointed out that in Riau, 24 hotspots were found in Pelalawan district, 18 in Rokan Hilir, nine in Bengkalis, six in Indragiri Hilir, five in Dumai, and three in Siak and Indragiri Hulu.
One hotspot each was found in Kuantansingigi, Meranti, and Kampar.
(Uu.INE/KR-BSR/F001)
