RIAU EXTENDS EMERGENCY STATUS AS WILDFIRES RE-EMERGE By Fardah

    Jakarta, July 16, 2014 (Antara) - The Modis Terra and Aqua satellite had detected 45 hotspots in Riau province on July 15, 2014, indicating that forest, peatland, and plantation fires are back in the current dry season.

         In June alone, the NOAA 18 Satellite operated by the United States had identified a total of 543 hotspots in Riau, which was the highest in the last three months.

          Of the 543 hotspots, 208 were found in Rokan Hilir District, 66 in Bengkalis, 52 in Pelalawan, 46 in Dumai, 45 in Indragiri Hulu, 25 in Indragiri Hilir, 23 in Rokan Hulu, 23 in Kampar, 22 in Siak, and one each in Meranti Islands and Pekanbaru City. In June 2014, at least 341 hectares of forest and plantation areas in Riau were razed by fires.

        During January-June 2014, at least 3,121 hotspots had been detected in Riau Province, including 653 in Bengkalis and 490 in Rokan Hilir. About 25 thousand hectares of forest and plantation areas had been gutted by fires during the period. 
   The wildfires had produced smoke haze threatening airplane visibility and affecting the health of thousands of Riau's inhabitants.    
   "Currently, the Haze Disaster Mitigation Emergency Response Task Force is tackling the wildfire menace in Riau," Head of the Riau Disaster Mitigation Office Said Saqlul Amri remarked recently.

        The task force comprises 1,096 military personnel, 125 personnel from the Manggala Agni forest fire brigade, 100 members of the Riau disaster mitigation agency's rapid reaction unit (TRC BPBD), 280 officers of the Riau fire brigade, 100 civilian security guards, and 50 members of the university student regiment. The task force has deployed several aerial and land-borne teams to extinguish the hotspots.    
   Several cities in Riau Province have been covered by haze since the last few days. The haze emanating from wildfires had caused low visibility in several districts, such as Dumai, Rengat, Pelalawan, and Bengkalis, Said Saqlul Amri earlier reported.

         Recently in Dumai, for instance, haze had deteriorated air quality in the city, with the pollutant index reaching 201 PSI. "Such a condition is categorized as very unhealthy," Said Saqlul Amri noted.   
    To tackle the wildfire problems, Riau has currently formed a Disaster Alert Community (MSB) consisting of 8,409 personnel. Their task is to anticipate, prevent, and extinguish wildfires. Each of Riau's 1,584 villages will have MSB, Jim Gafur of the Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) said recently.

          As more hotspots have reemerged, the Riau provincial administration has decided to extend the haze emergency status until November 30, 2014, according to Riau Provincial Police Chief Brigadier General Condro Kirono.

         The decision to extend was made on June 23, based on a report issued by the presidential working unit on monitoring and control (UKP4), which said the potential of El Niño phenomena to develop was more than 60 percent and will tend to be high until early 2015.

          This year, El Niño has been predicted to trigger drought and forest fires, which could be worse than those in 2013. El Niño-induced drought will be felt starting July and will tend to become stronger after November 2014. 
    During 1997-1998, Indonesia had experienced a prolonged drought induced by the strongest ever recorded El Niño, which triggered widespread wildfires that had wiped out millions of hectares of forest and plantation areas and caused losses worth US$2.45 billion.   
     The forest and land fires in Riau Province between February and April 2014 had caused economic losses worth more than Rp20 trillion, as per data furnished by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

         The haze disaster triggered by the fires had disrupted around 30 percent of the economic activities and caused monetary losses in Riau. The BNPB had spent around Rp164 billion, or one-third of its budget, to deal with the fires nationally.

          "It should be understood that once fire breaks out, it will be difficult to extinguish and can result in significant losses," BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated recently.

          The Riau provincial administration has been working in tandem with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) to implement several artificial rain programs to extinguish the forest fires.

         Several military and police personnel have also been deployed across the areas affected by forest fires, including Dumai city, Rokan Hilir district, Bengkalis district, and Siak district. At least three helicopters from the BNPB were deployed to drop water bombs.

        The Riau provincial police have so far detained a total of 183 suspects for alleged illegal logging activities, forest encroachment, and deliberate fire setting.

         "We are still investigating the environmental crimes, and the number of suspects might increase," spokesman of the Riau police adjunct Commissioner Guntur Aryo Tejo stated recently. ***3***
(f001/INE/H-YH)