BMKG South Sumatra station head Tri Agus Pramono said early morning haze had been detected in Palembang on July 17, although it had yet to influence visibility. “We have entered the dry season and hot spots have been detected in a number of regions,” Tri said.

The provincial Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BPBD) emergency handling division head Ansori also admitted the increasing threat of forest and land fires and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) had also provided several helicopters for air operations.

However, he said that so far the land fires were relatively small so the satellites could not detect them very easily.

Hot spots in South Sumatra, he said, were still fluctuating despite the increase. “The BMKG predicts that this year’s dry season will be drier than last year’s,” Ansori told The Jakarta Post, expressing hope that the impacts would not be more severe than last year.

As a preventive measure, his side continued raising awareness to tell people to stop opening or clearing land by burning it as doing so was a violation of the law.

Other efforts included establishing early firefighting posts and spreading 1,512 forest and land fire task force members to 90 regions considered prone to fires, especially regencies with the vastest peatlands such as Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin. Peatlands easily catch fire and once on fire they are difficult to extinguish.

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