R

iau Police have arrested two more people, in Pelalawan and Pekanbaru, after both were caught burning forests to clear land.

In Pelalawan, the local police arrested Yunus bin Dibal, 30, as he was burning a forest area near the Kerumutan Wildlife Preserve on Wednesday afternoon.

'€œThe police received reports [about the land burning] from the local community,'€ Riau Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Hermansyah said on Friday. He said Yunus had been named a suspect and was currently being held by the Pelalawan Police for further questioning.

Yunus, according to Hermansyah, had cleared some 2 hectares of land to open an oil palm plantation.

'€œThe area is not part of the protected forest but is in the production area. However, he is still being categorized as an illegal logger because he did not have a permit to [burn the land].'€

In Pekanbaru, the Tampan police precinct arrested a local, identified only as MN, 34, who was caught red-handed while burning a field behind a housing complex in the Simpang Baru area.

Tampan police chief Comr. Suparman said that MN told the police that he burned the field on his own initiative after being hired to clean it. He had been working there four days when he was caught
by locals.

'€œThe landowner never told him to burn it,'€ Suparman said, adding that the police also seized matches and other working tools belonging to MN as evidence.

These two arrests bring the total number of people arrested for burning land in Riau to 29. Of these cases, four have been handed over to local prosecutor'€™s offices for further processing.

They have been charged with violating the Horticulture Law and the Environment Law, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years'€™ imprisonment and fines of up to Rp 10 billion (US$892,000).

Haze caused by land-clearing operations due to burning forests and fields has reportedly caused serious health problems for locals.

Data collected from 20 community health centers (Puskesmas) in Pekanbaru revealed that 224 people had suffered from pneumonia, coughs, influenza and asthma as well as eye and skin irritation due to the haze, Antara news agency reported. Of these, half were children while the rest were aged 15 years and over.

'€œAll the patients have received intensive care from the Puskesmas in their respective regions for free,'€ Pekanbaru Health Agency head Rini Hermiyati said as quoted by Antara on Friday.

The Air Pollutant Standards Index (ISPU) in Riau reached 200 on Friday, a level considered dangerous to human health.

Separately, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said that rain over a number of regencies and municipalities across Riau province had drastically reduced the number of hot spots in the region.

Satellite data showed that as of Friday, there were only four hot spots left in Riau. Previously there had been 37, according to BNPB spokesman Agus Wibowo.

However, according to the Terra and Aqua satellite monitoring report released by the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), 61 hot spots still remained across Riau.