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Hot spots increase in Papua, South Sumatra
(Kompas
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(Kompas.com/Hilda Alexander) (Kompas.com/Hilda Alexander)
(Kompas.com/Hilda Alexander)
Several flights at Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika, Mimika regency, Papua, were canceled on Wednesday morning because as a thick haze from nearby fires brought visibility down to around 1 kilometer.
According to Timika meteorology station spokesperson Dwi Christanto, the region's cool weather has kept the haze from dissipating, leaving it to blanket the airport instead.
"Weather conditions in Timika will improve if the number of hot spots in Merauke regency are reduced and firefighting is maximized," said Dwi on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
Since Oct. 15, the airport has been unable to serve wide-body aircraft such as those from Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air and Airfast Indonesia.
On Tuesday, 257 hot spots were detected by NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites in Papua and Maluku, up from 229 the previous day. Yos Sudarso Island in Merauke regency and the border area between Merauke and Mappi regencies were said to have the most hot spots.
Meanwhile, the number of hot spots in South Sumatra has also increased, rising to 530 on Wednesday, spread across 16 regencies and cities. This increase comes despite the area having been the focus of foreign aid as requested by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. Two days ago, there were only 163 hot spots in South Sumatra.
"The number of hot spots detected in South Sumatra in October has been fluctuating. It will decrease for a few days, but the next day drastically increase, just like today," said spokesperson for the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) South Sumatra, Indra Purnama.
Ogan Komering Ilir regency is home to most of South Sumatra's hot spots, with 356, followed by Musi Rawas with 50 hot spots, Musi Banyuasin with 35, Banyuasin with 34, Lahat with 13, North Musi Rawas with 11 and Ogan Komering Ulu with 10. (kes)(++++)
