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Sumatra, Kalimantan report sharp rise in hot spots, raising concerns of another haze crisis

From Jakarta, he said, the BNPB had deployed 9,000 joint personnel from the Indonesian Military and the National Police to six regions, namely Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan, to prevent any slash and burn practices.

Ivany Atina Arbi, Rizal Harahap and N. Adri (The Jakarta Post)
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Jakarta/Pekanbaru/Balikpapan
Tue, August 13, 2019

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Sumatra, Kalimantan report sharp rise in hot spots, raising concerns of another haze crisis Thousands of Muslims pray during Idul Adha (Day of Sacrifice) in Annur Great Mosque in Pekanbaru Riau on Aug. 11 while haze blankets them. (ANTARA/ Rony Muharrman)

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uthorities have reported a sharp increase in hot spots in Kalimantan and Sumatra in the past few days, raising concerns about a possible repeat of the 2015 haze crisis that badly affected the islands, as well Singapore and Malaysia.

“If we fail to address the forest fires soon, we are likely to see the 2015 haze crisis happening again,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Agus Wibowo said.

He said this year’s dry season would be exceptionally long and it would exacerbate the impact of forest fires. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has predicted that the rainy season will not start until October.

The number of hot spots in several areas across Sumatra and Kalimantan has continued to increase.

The BMKG reported that hot spots were emerging, not only in Indonesia but also several other countries in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Singapore, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea.

Last week, before his visit to Singapore and Malaysia, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo stated that he was embarrassed that he would visit the two countries when the issue of haze had made headlines there. "I was sometimes embarrassed. This week I plan to visit Malaysia and Singapore. But just last week, haze was a headline," Jokowi said last week.

The number of hot spots had increased to 2,002 on Aug. 9 from 1,586 on Aug. 7 and 1,025 on Aug. 3. The hot spots were largely detected in the Indonesian provinces of Riau, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.

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