Singapore locates hot spots in Riau

Singapore locates hot spots in Riau

SINGAPORE (Agencies): The Singapore Environmental Ministry has
sent satellite pictures of "hot spots" - forest fires on the
Indonesian island of Sumatra - to authorities in Jakarta in hopes
of warding off another environmental debacle, officials said on
Friday.

With 20 detected this week from large-scale burning in land-
clearing operations, the ministry said it sent the pictures to
the Indonesian Environmental Impact Management Agency "to assist
them in carrying out checks on the ground".

The air quality has remained within the "good range" in the
city- state, but the ministry said it will continue to monitor
and notify the public of any significant changes.

At least 100 "hot spots" have been detected by Indonesian
government officials in Riau, Jambi and Bengkulu provinces, with
visibility in some areas down to only 200 meters.

"The situation is bad, especially in the morning and at
night," Aries Suwandi, a forestry official in Riau's capital of
Pekanbaru, told The Straits Times.

Residents in Pekanbaru, a major oil town, said that a thick
haze had been covering the city and surrounding areas for days,
with visibility down to 250 metres (270 yards) in the mornings.

Some people are beginning to complain of breathing problems,
Suwandi said. "We will soon distribute 3,000 face-masks and
medication to help them."

Suwandi said the chief culprits were plantation owners and
traditional farmers using slash-and-burn land-clearing methods
despite tougher environmental laws, which carry a maximum penalty
of 15 years in jail for air polluters.

Separately, Reuters quoted another official in Pekanbaru as
confirming on Friday that fires are raging again on the island of
Sumatra, two years after smoke from Indonesian forests caused an
environmental catastrophe in Southeast Asia.

"On March 1, there were 90 hotspots and yesterday there were
296 hotspots mostly in the northern half of Sumatra," Riadi Usman
said.

Raging blazes in Sumatra and Kalimantan spewed haze over parts
of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei from last June through August
and shrouded Sumatra so badly that residents wore masks outside.

The Pollution Standard Index hit a high of 100 in Singapore,
one point below the unhealthy range, and visibility was down to
four kilometres in Kuala Lumpur - reminiscent of the 1997 and
1998 fires that devastated tourism and created an environmental
disaster just as the region was clobbered by the economic crisis.