Pekanbaru Air Quality Plummets to 'Very Unhealthy' Due to Forest Fire Haze
Haze from forest and land fires has once again blanketed the city of Pekanbaru, Riau. The condition caused air quality in the provincial capital to plummet sharply to an alarming level in the early hours of Wednesday (12/8).
According to data from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), air pollution levels briefly reached the ‘Very Unhealthy’ category. However, as the morning progressed, conditions began to gradually improve, though they remained within a category considered unhealthy for the public.
Although visibility on Wednesday morning was reported to be better than on Tuesday night, when the smoke was thick and pungent, residents’ activities were observed to be continuing as normal. Police officers were also seen on guard and providing escorts at several points, including around the end of Jalan Sudirman near the Siak IV Bridge.
The Head of the Sumatra Forest Fire Control Centre, Ferdian Krisnanto, confirmed that a hotspot had appeared in Pandau Jaya Village, Siak Hulu District, Kampar Regency, which directly borders Pekanbaru, on Tuesday (11/8).
“The fire is currently completely extinguished. The Manggala Agni Pekanbaru Operations team, together with a joint team from the TNI, Polri, and village officials, succeeded in putting it out,” said Ferdian on Wednesday (12/8).
However, he added that handling efforts were still ongoing at several other locations, such as Pematang Pudu and Sungai Guntung.
Ferdian stressed that the joint team continues to maximise ground and air operations using water-bombing helicopters. “We will continue extinguishing efforts until the fires are completely and thoroughly put out,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Riau Forest Rescue Network (Jikalahari), Okto Yugo Setiyo, levelled sharp criticism at the Riau Provincial Government. He assessed that the government had been negligent because the haze disaster recurs every year.
Okto highlighted the government’s failure to implement Regional Regulation Number 1 of 2019 on Forest and Land Fire Control. According to him, the provincial government is too focused on the ‘Green for Riau’ programme, which is considered not to address the substance of environmental issues.
Based on Jikalahari’s records, there are four crucial points in the regulation that the Riau Provincial Government should implement.
“The provincial government must start focusing on the rescue and evacuation of communities. Humanitarian services such as identifying victims, providing clean water, and protecting vulnerable groups (infants, the elderly, and pregnant women) are mandates of a regulation made with public money. The provincial government ought to implement all of that,” Okto concluded.