Antara 5 Mar 19;
Tanjung Selor, N Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - Forest and land fires continue to haunt North Kalimantan, as they have occurred daily in the province over the last several weeks.
The fires began to produce haze, Muhammad Fandi, head of the North Kalimantan disaster mitigation office, confirmed here, Tuesday.
Fire-prone areas in the province include hinterland and border areas and those along the Trans-Kalimantan Highway toward Berau District, East Kalimantan, according to Fandi.
Haze shrouded Tanjung Selor, Bulungan, as fires reportedly occurred in the border area between Berau and Bulungan.
North Kalimantan Governor Irianto Lambrie has issued an instruction on banning land clearance using fire.
Forest and land fires are a recurrent phenomena in Indonesia, and the government has made all-out efforts to reduce their occurrence.
The mineral and peat fire in 2015 burnt 2.6 million hectares, mostly in the provinces of Riau, South Sumatra, Jambi, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and Papua, and cost US$16.1 billion as estimated by the World Bank in 2015, according to information on cifor.org.
Fires in Indonesia are caused by humans, both individually or collectively.
President Joko Widodo has committed to reducing fire during his term of office. Government actions have focused on fire suppression along with tackling biophysical and technological issues, such as through canal blocking and application of an early warning system.
Two hotspots detected in Aceh
Antara 5 Mar 19;
Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - Two hotspots were detected in Indonesia`s westernmost province of Aceh, a decrease from five hotspots on the previous day, according to the Aceh meteorology office.
The number of hotspots in Aceh had dropped, Zakaria Ahmad, head of the data and information section of the Aceh meteorology station, noted here, Tuesday.
"This morning, only two hotspots were detected in Aceh. The number decreased from five hotspots found in three regions in this province on the previous day," he remarked.
One hotspot was detected in South Kluet Sub-district in South Aceh District while another was found in Nagan Raya in Beutong Sub-district.
The hotspots had not triggered fire, but the temperature in the two sub-districts had reached up to 40 degrees Celsius, making the regions prone to fire.
"Such a condition has potential to trigger fire in the current dry season," he pointed out.
Aceh`s Acting Governor Nova Iriansyah had last month instructed to adopt preventive measures against possible forest and land fires in the province.
"The governor`s letter no. 360/373, dated January 11, 2019, on forest and land fires, is addressed to district heads and mayors across Aceh Province," Teuku Ahmad Daded, head of the Aceh disaster mitigation office, noted recently.
Reporting by Muhammad Said, fardah
(f001/INE)
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Reporting by Iskandar Zulkarnaen, fardah
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
