INDONESIA BRACES FOR FOREST FIRES AS HOTSPOTS EMERGE IN 15 PROVINCES by Fardah

  Jakarta, Sept 13, 2014 (Antara) - The ongoing drought hitting some parts of Indonesia have triggered the spreading of hotspots of forest and plantation fires in 15 provinces across the country.

         The 15 provinces affected by hotspots include East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, South Sumatra, East Java, Riau, Aceh, Lampung, and Bali, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

          "The related authorities are still trying to extinguish the hotspots," remarked Sutopo recently, calling on authorities in other provinces of Indonesia to remain vigilant about the possible appearance of hotspots in their areas.

          Vigilance is crucial, since nine of Indonesia's 33 provinces  are prone to forest fires due to several factors, including drought, according to Arief Yuwono, deputy III of the Ministry of the Environment. 
    The nine provinces are North and South Sumatra, Jambi, and Riau, as well as West, East, Central, South, and North Kalimantan.

          "Data has been collected on the nine provinces. The provinces have to take preventive measures in order to act immediately if forest fires occur," Arief stated recently.

          Major forest fires occurred in Riau Province last year, and this year large fires are expected in South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan, he said.

        "In Riau Province, forest fires in 2013 raged across 20 thousand hectares, and losses incurred by the state reached Rp10 trillion. Ecological sites also sustained heavy damage," he added.

         Based on BNPB's monitoring, as of September 8, 2014, hotspots had been detected in 15 provinces across Indonesia, including East Kalimantan (46 hotspots), West Kalimantan (27), Central Kalimantan (19), South Kalimantan (16), Southeast Sulawesi (5), South Sulawesi (5), South Sumatra (4), North Kalimantan (4), Central Sulawesi (4), East Java (3), Riau (2), Aceh (1), Lampung (1), and Bali (1).

         The largest number of hotspots detected by the NOAA 18 Satellite was in East Kalimantan, with 46 hotspots caused by forest and plantation fires.

         "The 46 hotspots could trigger wild fires in the surrounding forest areas. The local authorities should deal with the hotspots immediately," Sutopo Nugroho stated.    
   In Seruyan District, Central Kalimantan, at least 47 hotspots were detected in eight sub-districts during August and early September 2014. Hotspots from forest and plantation fires were discovered by the NOAA-18 Satellite, Suwarto of the Seruyan forestry service said here on Saturday.

          The hotspots were caused by land clearance conducted by local farmers to open new plantation and farming areas, he said. They usually cleared forest areas during the dry season and converted them into farming or plantation areas, he added.      
    The government has banned the use of fire to clear land, but many people ignore the directive. "We have routinely patrolled forest areas and extinguish any fires that we encountered. We hope the number of hotspots will decrease soon," he stated.

         In South Kalimantan, hotspots were detected in eight sub-districts in Tanah Laut District. "The eight sub-districts are Pelaihari, Tambang Ulang, Bati-Bati, Kurau, Bumi Makmur, Jorong, Kintap and Panyipatan," Ahmad Hairin, head of the Tanah Laut forestry office, announced.

         The forestry office detected 14 hotspots in forests, as well as non-forest areas in 14 villages in the districts.  The affected villages are Bajuin, Pulau Sari, Raden, Sungai Cuka, Sebuhur, Nusa Indah, Batalang,  Kandangan Lama, Tambak Karya, Kali Besar, Tambak Sarinah, Batakan and Banua Raya.

         Ahmad suspected those hotspots indicate wild fires were caused by careless use of cigarettes.

         As for Sumatra Island, Riau's Disaster Mitigation Agency released data on September 12, 2014 reporting that the number of hotspots on the Island increased from 176 to 225 on Sept. 11. 
   Most of the hotspots affected were in Riau, North Sumatra, Jambi and South Sumatra provinces in Sumatra.

         "We will extinguish the fires immediately if the hotspots found by NOAA are forest fires," Chief of Riau Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency Said Saqlul Amri stated in Pekanbaru, Riau, recently.

         According to the agency, 20 hotspots were found in Riau Province, which comprised 13 hotspots in Indragiri Hulu District, three in Pelalawan District, two in Indragiri Hilir and one each in Kuantan Singingi and Kampar.

         According to Said, the lack of rainfall in Sumatra Island might be the cause of rising numbers of hotspots.   Apart from low rainfall, deliberately setting fires for land-clearing to start new plantations is also believed to be the cause of forest fires and haze in Sumatra Island.  
     Also, Riau authorities have strengthened law enforcement and intensified preventive measures against forest and plantation fires, according to Amri.

        During the period between April and August, Riau's provincial police named 90 suspects in forest-related crimes, particularly in connection with forest fires and illegal logging activities.

         The suspects were involved in 61 cases, of which 23 were forest and plantation fires and 38 involved illegal logging and encroachment cases.

        Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan recently visited Riau to monitor land and forest fires in several regions, including the Rokan Hilir District. The minister had also witnessed the prosecution of the perpetrators of forest fires by the regional police. 
   "I strongly condemn the perpetrators of the (forest and land fires)," the minister told the press in Pekanbaru.

         In Jambi, Sumatra Island, the Terra and Aqua satellite detected 18 hotspots on Sept. 9.  The hotspots spread in six districts, namely Bungo (two hotspots), Tebo (two), Merangin (five), Sarolangun (six), and West Tanjung Jabung (three).

         Visibility in Jambi City dropped significantly in Jambi over the last week due to haze coming from forest and plantation fires.

          "Today, the haze enveloping Jambi is quite thick, reducing the visibility to 500 meters at noon," forecaster of the Jambi meteorological, climatology and geophysics office, Kurnia Ningsih, said.

         Haze also arrived from Jambi's neighboring province of South Sumatra, where 33 hotspots were detected, in particular in Ogan Komering Ilir district.

          A member of the House of Representatives (DPR), Okky Assokawati from the United Development Party (PPP) faction, recently urged the government to promptly deal with the impact of drought in some provinces.

           "Many regions in Indonesia are currently being hit by drought that has affected the environment and communities. The government must quickly address the problem," Okky recently noted in a press statement. ***3***
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