Forest fires continue to expand in Riau

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Dark clouds blot the sky of Jakarta, on Thursday (21/02/2019). The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency has announced an early warning of extreme weather that will hit a number of regions in Indonesia in the next few days. This will be caused by the presence of a mass of low-layer wet air concentrated over the western waters of the northern part of Sumatra, North Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Bangka Belitung, Lampung, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, North Maluku, West Papua and Papua.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Below normal rainfall has fallen in the eastern coastal region of Sumatra since early February, increasing the vulnerability to forest and land fires. During the last two weeks, the number of hotspots in Riau has increased to 80 locations, rising from 24 locations in the previous week.

Herizal, of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), said in Jakarta that the area near the equator had a different character from other regions in Indonesia. These areas cover most of the western coast of Sumatra, central Sumatra, western and central Kalimantan, central and southeast Sulawesi, and parts of northern Papua, which have two peaks of rainy and dry seasons.

Areas with equatorial rain types experience the first dry season from February to April. The second dry season occurs in June-August. Now, forest fires in Riau province have expanded to 857.7 hectares. Fires have hit the east coast, namely Bengkalis regency, Rokan Hilir, and Dumai city. However, the efforts to extinguish the fires by land have been hampered because the location of the fires cannot be accessed by four-wheeled vehicles. Three helicopters have been deployed to carry out water bombing. The government has distributed around 14,000 masks to residents.

According to Edwar Sanger, the head of the Riau Disaster Management Agency, most of the fires occurred on Rupat Island, Bengkalis. Fires have been breaking out on peatland and oil palm plantations that have been abandoned. The joint team has been dispatched to Rupat.

"The fires are burning an area of 639 ha in Rupat," he said. The head of the BMKG’s climate information and air quality production, Siswanto, said the first drought had caused an increase in the number of hotspots during the past two weeks.

Based on the observation of the Terra/Aqua Satellite, there were 80 hotspots in 24 locations In Riau and seven hotspots in East Kalimantan in the previous week.

According to the head of the BMKG’s Information and public relations center, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the forest fires in Riau could spread further if not immediately dealt with. "The governor of Riau has declared a state of emergency on forest and land fires from Feb. 19 to Oct. 31, 2019. We have prepared two water-bombing helicopters," he said.

As of Thursday, the fires had occurred in a number of locations in seven regencies, namely Rokan Hilir, with 117 ha, Dumai with 46.5 ha, Bengkalis with 639 ha, Meranti Islands with 20 ha, Siak with 5 ha, Pekanbaru with 16 ha, and Kampar with 14 ha. "The total area in Riau which has been hit by fires since the beginning of January has reached 857.7 ha," said Sutopo. (AIK / NSA / AIN)