The Jakarta Post 10 Mar 19;
The forest fire in Riau has expanded as haze spreads to more cities in the province.
The Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD Riau) revealed that, as of Sunday, the fire had spread across nearly 1,700 hectares of land from a little over 1,100 ha on Feb. 28, causing smoke in Pekanbaru and Dumai.
BPBD Riau acting head Ahmadsyah Harrofie said Bengkalis regency was currently the worst affected area, as quoted by tempo.co.
Forest fires are still spreading throughout Dumai, Meranti Islands and five other regencies. Ahmadsyah said the agency’s task force was continuing its attempt to extinguish fires in all areas.
Riau Forest Rescue Network (Jikalahari) coordinator Made Ali added that 63 out of 139 hot spots this week could potentially further ignite a fire.
However, he said that the air condition in Pekanbaru remained “good”. According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the air pollution standard index (ISPU) in Pekanbaru and Dumai is still at an "acceptable" level.
On the other hand, the index has reached an unhealthy level in Bengkalis and five other regencies. (mai)
