Antara 7 Aug 19;
Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - At least 1,136 residents of Pekanbaru, Riau Province, have suffered from upper respiratory tract infection following exposure to haze arising from forest fires raging in the province’s several districts.
All community health posts in Pekanbaru were notified to be prepared to deliver optimal services to respiratory patients, Mohammad Amin, acting head of the Pekanbaru health office, noted here on Wednesday.
Most outpatients were people belonging to the productive age group that often conducted outdoor activities, he explained.
He called on Pekanbaru residents to take care of their health and stay indoors when haze shrouds their city.
In the meantime, the Terra and Aqua Satellites, on Tuesday, at 6 a.m. local time, detected 152 hotspots on Sumatra Island, including 75 in Riau Province, according to the Pekanbaru meteorology, climatology, and geophysics station.
"Riau had the largest number of hotspots, reaching 75," Gita Dewi Siregar, an analyst at the station, had remarked in Pekanbaru on Tuesday.
Some 10 hotspots were observed in Aceh, seven in Jambi, two in West Sumatra, five in Lampung, 25 in South Sumatra, 18 in North Sumatra, and 10 in Bangka Belitung.
In Riau, 25 hotspots were found in Rokan Hilir District, 17 in Pelalawan, 15 in Indragiiri Hilir, nine in Siak, three in Bengkalis, two in Meranti Islands, three in Kampar, and one each in Dumai and Kauntan Singingi.
Of the total 75 hotspots, 53 were confirmed to be fire spots, with 19 found in Rokan Hilir, 13 in Pelalawan, 12 in Indragiri Hilir, five in Siak, and two each in Kampar and Bengkalis.
In Jakarta, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) chaired a meeting at the State Palace on Tuesday to discuss efforts to combat forest fires.
Minister/State Secretary Pratikno, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto, Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, Chief of the Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, Chief of the National Police General Tito Karnavian, several governors, and local authorities were among the attendees at the meeting.
Haze from Riau has reportedly spread to Malaysia, while President Jokowi is scheduled to visit Malaysia on August 9, 2019.
Reporter: Vera Lusiana, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati
West Aceh declares haze emergency following fires
The Jakarta Post 7 Aug 19;
The West Aceh regency administration has declared an emergency status in response to the severe haze that has blanketed the region from forest and land fires that have burned since July.
The emergency status was declared and signed by West Aceh Regent Ramli MS on Monday.
"The emergency status has been [declared] to anticipate the effects of fires in West Aceh," Ramli MS said in Meulaboh as quoted by Antara.
He said the status would remain in effect until Oct. 31.
The administration and related agencies will launch measures related to the crisis, such as establishing command posts and taking strategic steps to extinguish fires.
773 hotspots identified across Indonesia: BNPB
Antara 7 Aug 19;
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) confirmed the detection of some 773 hotspots scattered across several areas in Indonesia.
"A total of 773 hotspots, classified as medium category (30 to 70 percent) and high category (equal or above 80 percent), were detected on Wednesday (August 7) at 7:25 western Indonesia time," BNPB acting spokesman Agus Wibowo stated here on Wednesday.
Of the 773 hotspots, 549 are medium-category hotspots and 224 are categorized as high category, as monitored by the Aqua, Terra, and SNNP satellites in the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) for 24 hours, until Wednesday at 7:25 western Indonesia time.
Most hotspots of high category were detected in West Kalimantan, reaching 52; Central Kalimantan, 41; North Kalimantan, 34; East Kalimantan, 18; and South Sumatra, 15.
Meanwhile, hotspots categorized in the medium category were mostly detected in West Kalimantan, reaching 116; Central Kalimantan, 144; East Kalimantan, 48; and North Kalimantan, 43.
Based on the SiPongi Forest and Land Fire Monitoring System of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, fires have ravaged some 135,749 hectares of forest and land in 2019.
The area of forest and land fires was calculated based on an analysis of Landsat 8 OLI /TIRS satellite imagery that was "overlaid" with hotspots distribution data as well as field check report on hotspots.
Reporter: Dewanto Samodro, Yuni Arisandy
Editor: Suharto
LAPAN confirms identification of 608 hotspots across Indonesia
Antara 8 Aug 19;
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) has detected 608 hotspots of all levels across Indonesia on Thursday.
According to its official website, 26 hotspots are identified as low level, 409 of medium level, and 173 of high level.
The hotspots were monitored by all satellites operated and accessed by LAPAN: Aqua, Terra, SNPP, and NOAA 20.
Hotspots are not indicative of the number of land and forest fires, according to the technical information guidance on hotspot prepared by Lapan's Deputy of Remote Sensing.
Hotspot is an area with a higher temperature than its surrounding areas that can be detected by satellite, it stated.
However, several hotspots detected in group are believed to be of land and forest fires in the area.
Hotspot monitoring has become an effective measure to detect land and forest fires in a vast area.
Meanwhile, according to the Environment Affairs and Forestry Ministry forest fire monitoring system Sipongi on August 1-7, the largest number of hotspots were detected in West Kalimantan as monitored by LAPAN's Terra and Aqua satellites.
The number of hotspots in West Kalimantan in the last week had reached 183, a sharp increase than 32 hotspots in the previous week, followed by Riau, with 141 hotspots, last week, as compared to 79 hotspots in the previous week. Related news: Haze-induced respiratory ailments inflict 1,136 Pekanbaru residents
EDITED BY INE
Reporter: Dewanto Samodro, Sri Haryati
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Satellites detects 2,070 hotspots across Indonesia during January-July
Antara 8 Aug 19;
The number of the hotspots was higher than that in 2018 but lower than that recorded in 2015
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Environmental Affairs and Forestry Ministry recorded 2,070 hotspots, with a confidence rate at over 80 percent, during the January-July 2019 period, based on monitoring of the Terra and Aqua Modis satellites.
"The number of hotspots was higher than that in 2018 but lower than that recorded in 2015," Eva Famurianty, head of the Early Warning and Detection Section of the Climate Change Mitigation Directorate General of the ministry, remarked here on Wednesday.
In 2018, the number of hotspots across Indonesia reached 1,338, up from 362 in 2017.
The number of hotspots in Riau Province during the January-July period surged by 406 hotspots compared to that during the same period in 2018, while the figure was up by 43 hotspots in Central Kalimantan, and in West Kalimantan, the figure went down by 159.
This year's El Nino is relatively weak, but the number of days when no rains were received is longer, notably between 30 and 120 days. Several regions have also experienced rainless days for over 120 days.
During the same period, the Landsat satellite image indicated that a total of 135,747 hectares of forest areas were razed by fires. The indicative gutted forest areas comprised 31,002 hectares of peatland areas and 104,746 hectares of mineral land areas.
The ministry's Director of Forest Fire Mitigation Raffles B. Panjaitan remarked that of the eight provinces prone to forest fires, six have declared an emergency status for forest fire.
The six provinces are Riau, with the emergency status declared from Feb 19 to Oct 31, or 255 days; West Kalimantan (from Feb 12 to Dec 31, or 323 days); South Sumatra (March 8-Oct 31, or 237 days); Central Kalimantan (May 28-Aug 26, or 91 days), South Kalimantan (June 1-Oct 31, or 153 days), and Jambi (July 23-Oct 20, or 90 days).
Meanwhile, Dumai City in Riau also declared an emergency status (Feb 13-May 31, or 108 days), Sambas in West Kalimantan (Feb 1-Dec 31, or 334 days), and Kapuas also in West Kalimantan (July 8-Oct 5, or 90 days).
Forest and peatland fires in Riau reached 27,635 hectares; Aceh, 333 ha; West Sumatra, 129 ha; South Sumatra, three ha; North Sumatra, 17 ha; West Kalimantan, 1,291 ha; South Kalimantan, 602 ha; Central Kalimantan, 963 ha; East Kalimantan, 223 ha; and North Kalimantan, five ha.
Mineral land areas gutted by fires in 28 provinces reached 104,746 ha in total, comprising 4,970 ha in Riau Islands Province, 2,430 ha in Riau Province, 2,452 ha in East Java, 2,024 ha in West Kalimantan, 4,068 ha in South Kalimantan, 2,655 ha in Central Kalimantan, 4,207 ha in East Kalimantan, 854 ha in North Kalimantan, 441 ha in South Sulawesi, 1,755 ha in West Nusa Tenggara, 71,712 ha in East Nusa Tenggara, and 2,851 ha in Papua, among others.
Reporter: Fauzi, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati
