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At least 27 wildfires detected in Riau
American satellite NOAA 18, operated by Singapore, detected 48 wildfires across Sumatra on Tuesday, 27 of which were located in Riau
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American satellite NOAA 18, operated by Singapore, detected 48 wildfires across Sumatra on Tuesday, 27 of which were located in Riau.
The fires have been causing thick haze that has blanketed parts of Riau for the last month, posing serious health risks to residents.
'The number of hotspots [detected on Tuesday] was an increase from 40 the day before,' said National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Agus Wibowo on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
Based on the satellite data, nine of the 27 wildfires in Riau were found in Pelalawans, followed by Meranti (with six hotspots), Siak (five), Indragiri Hilir (four), Bengkalis (two) and Indragiri Hulu (one).
Last year in June and July, haze from Sumatra wildfires caused haze that blanketed Singapore and cities in Malaysia, sparking a health crisis and tensions among Indonesia and its ASEAN neighbors.
The fires are believed mostly to be the result of land clearing done by plantation companies.
Overwhelmed by the incessant haze problem, the Riau provincial administration has planned to use disaster-response funding of Rp 10 billion (US$857,000) from its budget to lease two helicopters, each capable of carrying 500 liters of water, to carry out water-bombing. (yln)
