More hot spots, haze detected on three islands

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Medan

More provinces in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi islands are showing hot spots, a strong indication of forest fires, with haze already shrouding some areas of these provinces.

The director of the forest fires detection and evaluation division at the Ministry of Forestry Willistra Danny said on Wednesday that the ministry had detected a number of hot spots in North Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, West and Central Kalimantan, and Central and Southeast Sulawesi provinces.

"It is the first time we have detected hot spots in Sulawesi during the current fires. Hot spots mostly occur in Riau and West Kalimantan," he said. He failed, however, to specify the number of hot spots.

The latest data from the ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Centre (ASMC) satellite on May 29 showed there were 110 hot spots in Riau province alone.

Teams of firefighters had been instructed to check the locations of the hot spots.

Willistra said two teams in Riau consisting of 30 trainees were being deployed in Dumai, the port used by the PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia oil and gas company, to extinguish forest fires in the area.

North Sumatra, Jambi, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan have also deployed teams of firefighters.

"All of the team members have been trained to put out forest fires. Now they are being deployed in the field in cooperation with local administrations and companies," he said, referring to cooperation between the Riau teams and Caltex.

In North Sumatra, thick haze from forest fires began to blanket several areas in the province.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) reported that 48 hot spots were found on Wednesday in Labuhan Batu, South Tapanuli, Tarutung and Dairi regencies, an increase from 20 last week.

Visibility is also only between 1,000 and 2,000 meters.

"Within the last two weeks there has been no rain in North Sumatra. This will encourage forest fires," BMG Medan head Firman told the Jakarta Post.

The haze had reached a level that could endanger human health but so far it had yet to endanger land, sea and air transportation.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, Antara reported that choking haze had limited visibility to only 300 meters.

Aside from the haze, the dust and the smell from the fires were also bothering motorists in the city. Many drivers turned on their headlights and reduced their speed even when the roads were empty, fearing possible traffic accidents.

Local people hoped the responsible authorities would take concrete action to tackle the fires.

"Don't only talk in the newspapers. They must take definite action to stop the forest fires as the haze has reached alarming levels in Riau," Hendra said.

Riau forestry office director Syuhada has warned 40 companies in the province not to clear land using the slash and burn method.

Forest fires have become an annual problem in Indonesia due to land clearance activities using the slash and burn method. The method has been banned by the government but forestry companies and local people continued to practice it as it is cheaper than other methods. So far, Malaysian company PT Adei Plantation has been fined US$1.1 million for clearing land using the slash and burn method.

Forest fires have also spread choking haze annually over Singapore and Malaysia, forcing the two countries to often cancel flights.