Antara 26 Feb 19;
Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Forest fires have gutted a total of 1,136 hectares (ha) of forest and plantation areas in Riau Province since January 2019.
The figure showed an increase of 150 ha within the last 48 hours, Edwar Sanger, head of the Riau disaster mitigation office, stated here on Tuesday.
Hotspots were detected along the coastal regions of Riau, such as Bengkalis, Dumai, Rokan Hilir, and Indragiri Hilir, he noted.
A joint team comprising local firefighters, disaster mitigation personnel, and military and police officers were deployed to extinguish the fires.
Water bombs were also dropped from a Casa 12 aircraft of the Indonesian Air Force to put out the blaze that has produced haze on Rupat Island.
Haze smoke reduced visibility to 100 meters and forced schools to halt class activities on Rupat Island.
Nine out of the province`s 12 districts and cities were affected by forest fires. Of the total area gutted by fires, 817 ha were in Bengkalis, 132 ha in Rokan Hilir, 60 ha in Dumai, 30 ha in Siak, 38 ha in Indragiri Hilir, 15 ha in Kampar, 20.4 ha in Meranti, and 21.01 ha in Pekanbaru.
Meanwhile, thousands of residents in Riau Province have suffered from respiratory ailments after being exposed to air pollution caused by land and forest fires in the region.
Head of the Riau Health Office Mimi Nazir stated here on Tuesday that Dumai City had recorded the largest number of patients, with 2,199 people suffering from upper respiratory tract infection (ISPA), seven people ailing from pneumonia, 52 people complaining of asthma, 58 people experiencing eye irritation, and 28 people with skin irritation.
In Bengkalis District, the health office has found 247 people suffering from ISPA, 15 asthma patients, four pneumonia patients, 24 people experiencing eye irritation, and 13 with skin irritation.
In Rohil District, the authority has found 42 people with ISPA, four with asthma, eight with eye irritation, and 16 with skin irritation.
Nazir said the office has sent a team to Rupat Island in Bengkalis District to help the residents exposed to the haze.
Riau Province has declared an emergency status for land and forest fire since Feb 19 that will last for eight months.
Peatland fires continue to occur, especially in the coastal areas of the province.
The Terra and Aqua satellites of the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had, at 6 a.m. local time, on Tuesday, detected 23 hotspots that could be an early indication of forest fire in Riau.
Reporting by Anggi Romadhoni, fardah
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Thousand of Riau residents suffer respiratory problems due to haze
Antara 26 Feb 19;
Pekanbaru, Riau, (ANTARA News) - Thousand of residents in Riau Province have suffered respiratory problems after they were exposed to air pollution caused by land and forest fires in the region.
Head of Riau Health Office Mimi Nazir said here on Tuesday, Dumai City has recorded the largest number of patients, with 2,199 people suffered from upper respiratory tract infection (ISPA), seven people with pneumonia, 52 people with asthma, 58 people with eye irritation, and 28 people with skin irritation.
In Bengkalis District, the health office has found 247 people with ISPA, asthma (15), pneumonia (4), eye irritation (24) and skin irritation (13).
In Rohil District the authority has found 42 people with ISPA, asthma (4), eye irritation (8) and skin irritation (16).
Nazir said, the office has sent a team to Rupat Island in Bengkalis District to help residents exposed by the haze.
Riau Province has declared an emergency status for land and forest fire since February 19, that would last for eight months.
Peatland fires are still occurring especially in the coastal areas of the province.
Data of the Provincial Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) showed that the land and forest fire in the region during January to February 2019 has covered an area of 1,136 hectares.
The Terra Aqua satellite of Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) at 06 a.m on Tuesday has detected 23 hot spots, that could be an early indication of forest fire in Riau.
The hot spots spread in Bengkalis (5 hot spots), Indragiri Hilir (2), Pelalawan (8), Siak (7), and Dumai (1).
Fourteen hot spots are detected with more than 70 percent of accuracy, or confirmed to be forest/land fires.
Reporting by FB Anggoro, Sri Haryati
Editor: Sri Haryati
Hotspots decline though haze hits some parts of Indonesia's Riau province
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times 26 Feb 19;
JAKARTA - The number of hotspots in Indonesia's Riau province has declined, although poor visibility has been reported in some areas, particularly in the east, because of forest fires.
Antara news agency said thick smog has blanketed parts of the province and forced schools to send students home.
The number of hotspots came down from 54 last Friday (Feb 22) to 23 on Tuesday (Feb 26), said Mr Sukisno, the head of the meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency (BMKG) at Pekanbaru, in Riau.
But the number has been fluctuating, with 44 recorded last Saturday and 47 on Sunday. On Monday, it went down to 32.
The Indonesian military has deployed an aircraft to the province and Mr Sukisno, who goes by one name, said cloud-seeding operations to induce rain should begin on Wednesday.
Visibility in Riau's Rupat island, in the Malacca Strait, was as low as 100m, Antara reported, citing the local authority. Rupat island, off the city of Dumai, has not received any rainfall for about a month.
"Some areas in the eastern part of Riau have not seen rain since mid-January. During dry season like now, we do experience rainfall, but within the light-to-moderate range," Mr Sukisno told The Straits Times. "Eastern parts of Riau, a coastal area, generally sees lower rainfall than the province's inland areas in the west."
There are currently no hotspots in the western part of Riau.
"Wind direction trends during the February-March period are easterly and north-easterly (blowing from east towards west and from north-east towards south-west), or away from Singapore," Mr Sukisno added.
Riau has two dry seasons a year, February-March and June-August, and the wind direction in the latter season would be towards the north-east, or in the direction of Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia, Mr Sukisno said.
Most other parts of Indonesia experience the dry season only once a year. It is between April and September on the most populous island of Java, for example, and the rest of the year is considered the rainy season.
Forest fires were among the issues that cropped up during the recent presidential debate on Feb 17, with the incumbent, Joko Widodo, touting his achievement in curbing the fires.
Mr Joko is facing a sole challenger, former army general Prabowo Subianto, 67, in the upcoming April 17 polls. Mr Joko, 57, popularly known as Jokowi, is seeking a second and final five-year term in office.
Mr Joko's campaign managers say the current administration has managed to reduce forest and plantation fires through stricter law enforcement and prevention measures.
"During Jokowi's tenure, forest fires have been handled quickly and the problem did not persist," senior politician Lukman Edy, representing Mr Joko's campaign team, told the Jakarta-based Elshinta radio a day after the Feb 17 debate, the second of five scheduled to take place between the two main candidates before the poll.
Mr Lukman said that there had been only one major fire - in 2015 - under Mr Joko, while previously, such incidents were annual occurrences.
"We almost never have forest fires any more. Lately, there were hot spots emerging, but firefighting teams promptly handled them," Mr Lukman said. "Forest fires are unavoidable, but the government now is there to deal with them, so the problem does not drag on."
There has hardly been any response from the Prabowo camp to the President's claims.
