South Bangka Besieged by Hotspots

Dozens of hotspots, suspected to be forest and land fires (karhutla), are scattered across several regencies in the Bangka Belitung Islands Province. South Bangka has been identified as the regency with the highest number of these detected hotspots.

The Head of the Bangka Belitung Provincial Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Budi Utama, stated that according to information from BMKG Pangkalpinang, there are currently 51 hotspots. Of these 51 points, 11 are located in Bangka, spread across the Bakam, Mendo Barat, Pemali, and Puding districts.

“From these 51 hotspots, South Bangka has the most with 18 points, spread across the Air Gegas, Lepar, Payung, Toboali, and Tukak Sadai districts,” said Budi on Sunday (14/6).

Furthermore, he noted that other regencies include Central Bangka with 12 points, spread across the Koba, Lubuk Besar, Simpang Katis, and Sungai Selan districts; West Bangka with 3 points in the Mentok and Simpang Teritima districts; Belitung with 4 points in the Membalong district; and East Belitung with 1 point in Simpang Renggiang.

He expressed that with accuracy levels of 8 and 9, these 51 hotspots are highly indicative of actual forest and land fires. “It is indeed pointing towards forest and land fires, especially with accuracy levels at 9. We have instructed the local BPBD to go directly to the locations to monitor and carry out firefighting if it is indeed a fire,” he revealed.

He admitted that many hotspots have been monitored by satellites across several regencies in Bangka Belitung due to hot weather conditions and strong winds as the dry season approaches. “We continue to urge residents to remain vigilant and avoid activities that could trigger fires, such as clearing gardens by burning land or discarding cigarette butts that still have embers,” Budi added.