Artificial rain program in Sumatra to begin soon<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau<\/p>\n
Authorities from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore will soon
\nlaunch a joint cloud-seeding operation over hotspots in the north
\nof Indonesia to induce rain aimed at curbing troubling forest
\nfires in the region.<\/p>\n
The 10-day operation was supposed to start on Monday, but
\nunfavorable weather conditions forced authorities to postpone the
\nplan.<\/p>\n
\"This artificial rain really depends on the weather
\nconditions. If the weather is not favorable, then we'll have to
\npostpone the cloud-seeding because of the huge cost involved,\"
\nsaid Asep Karsidi, the head of the artificial rain unit at the
\nAgency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPP),
\nsaid quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Cloud-seeding involves releasing a salt solution to try to
\naccelerate the formation of rain-producing clouds. It has been
\ntried in the past with mixed results, and many scientists have
\nquestioned its efficacy.<\/p>\n
\"We carried out this kind of operation in 1997 and 2000 with
\nmixed results. This time we'll try it again,\" Asep said.<\/p>\n
Fires set by farmers, plantation owners and miners taking
\nadvantage of the dry season to clear land have raged out of
\ncontrol in recent weeks, with much of the acrid smoke blowing
\nacross the narrow Strait of Malacca to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Air pollution levels in large parts of Malaysia, including the
\ncapital city Kuala Lumpur, reached hazardous levels for about 10
\ndays before dissipating with changing winds and rain.<\/p>\n
Maj. Aldrin Petrus Mongan of the Indonesian Air Force said
\nfour C-130 Hercules aircraft participated in the operation.
\nIndonesia deployed two, while two more came from Malaysia and
\nSingapore. Aldrin said each aircraft carried between 23 and 25 crew.
\nMalaysia has also deployed 125 firefighters to help battle forest
\nfires in Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The aircraft will fly over fire-ravaged forest areas in Riau,
\nNorth Sumatra, Jambi, and West Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Indonesian authorities said on Sunday that most of the haze-
\ncausing surface brush fires were out -- but that they were still
\nbattling underground fires in peat lands, AP reported.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Indonesian office of the World Wildlife Fund
\n(WWF) urged the Indonesian government to prosecute companies that
\nwere involved in setting the forest and land fires, some of which
\nit said were repeat offenders.<\/p>\n
From July 18 to Aug. 16 in Riau, the conservation organization
\nrecorded that 609 hotspots were located in the concessions of
\ncompanies, many of them the same companies charged by the Riau
\nprovincial government for setting fires to clear land back in
\n2003.<\/p>\n
From a total of 5,420 hotspots recorded by Modis Satellite
\ndata for the same period, about half of them were located in
\ncompany concessions.<\/p>\n
\"Repeated incidents of forest and land fires, both in
\ncompanies' concessions and communities' plantations, indicate
\npublic and corporate ignorance in respecting the zero-burning
\npolicy set by the government of Indonesia in 2001,\" the WWF said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/artificial-rain-program-in-sumatra-to-begin-soon-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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