Nine hot spots discovered in Riau forest areas

Pekanbaru – According to the analysis of the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) at Pekanbaru stations, there are nine hot spots found in Riau Province on Wednesday (11 Jan) morning:

• One point in the Meranti Islands,
• Three points in Rokan Hilir,
• Two points in Siak, and
• Three points in Rokan Hulu.

Pekanbaru Tribune reported on 11 Jan, Head of Data and Information of BMKG, Slamet Riyadi, revealed that all the nine points of hotspot was found with a confidence level of above 50 percent. Four of them, two in Rokan Hilir, one in Rokan Hulu and one in Siak were above 70 percent. Along with the discovery of the hotspot points, the visibility was also affected. In Pekanbaru, visibility was 7 km at around 7:00 am. "In other areas such as Dumai and Pelalawan, the visibility was 7 and 8 km respectively. Only in Rengat it was 4 km and with the status of haze," said Riyadi.

Haze in Singapore and Malaysia caused by smog blowing from the Riau Province and other areas in Sumatera is an annual incident. The tweet from the Head of BNPB, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, revealed there are also four hot spots in North Sumatera and  three hot spots in West Sumatera, all with confidence level above 50 percent. Today reported, Head of Riau Environment and Forestry Agency, Yulwiriati Moesa, also confirmed the hot spots in the province, informing that they are caused by a forest fire in Kuantan Singingi regency. “The forest is located on a hill and it’s difficult for firefighters to move around; water resources are also very limited,” she observed. Ms Moesa said that the Riau Governor has been notified of the situation and she expected the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry will also intervene to cope with the situation. “Hopefully, the central government will send helicopters soon to Riau. Otherwise, the fires might spread,” she said.