Hotspots detected in Sumatra ahead of Asian Games
INDONESIA The government has detected 29 hotspots in Riau province on Sumatra island in the past two days and has sent helicopters to extinguish the fires ahead of the Asian Games, which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang in South Sumatra in August.
The Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported on Tuesday that satellite readings showed the 29 hotspots were inRiau.
Fifteen were detected in Dumai, seven were in Rokan Hilir regency, six in Bengkalis and one in Siak.
"Twenty-four of them have a level of certainty higher than 70 per cent, meaning the hotspots likely are fires," said Mr Marzuki, Pekanbaru BMKG's data and information head.
He said the number was higher than on Monday morning, when only 12 spots with a high level of certainty had been detected.
Across Sumatra island, Riau had the most hotspots, data showed. On Tuesday, the satellite detected 15 hotspots in Lampung, two each in South Sumatra and Bangka Belitung, and one each in North Sumatra and Bengkulu.
The head of Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency, Mr Edwar Sanger, said a task force had deployed five helicopters to extinguish a fire in Dumai.
"We flew from Pekanbaru to Dumai at 6.30am to conduct water bombing," he said.
"We are working hard to keep Riau free of haze to make the Asian Games in Palembang and Jakarta a success."
He warned the public about very dry peatland, telling people not to clear land for farming using the slash-and-burn method.- JAKARTA POST/ANN
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