In The Last Three Months, 131 Hectares Of Gabut Land Burned In Riau

Illustration of forest fires (ANTARA)

PEKANBARU - In the last three months for the period January 1 to March 28, 2023, 131.44 hectares of burned land in Riau province, which is known to have many peatlands.

"In the same period, the Riau BPBD recorded the widest forest and land fires (Karhutla), namely in Bengkalis and finally, forest and land fires were found in Kelung Luar Village and Teluk Bambang Village. These two villages are in Bantan District, Bengkalis Regency," said Edy Afrizal as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, March 31.

He said a number of areas in Riau that had previously been hit by forest and land fires had been successfully extinguished by officers.

With the fire extinguished due to forest and land fires in Bengkalis, he said, currently Riau Province has zero forest and land fires.

"Riau is now conducive, there are zero forest and land fires, hopefully all parties can maintain this conducive condition," he said.

He detailed that the area with the most burned land was in Bengkalis Regency covering an area of 79.87 hectares. Then in Rokan Hilir (Rohil) Regency covering an area of 5.5 hectares, Dumai City covering an area of 19.27 hectares, Meranti Islands Regency 2.5 hectares, and Siak Regency covering an area of 9.95 hectares.

Meanwhile, forest and land fires in Pekanbaru City have an area of 7.2 hectares, Indragiri Hulu Regency covering an area of 0.65 hectares and Indragiri Hilir Regency covering an area of 5.5 hectares.

"There are three areas that are still nil or there are no forest and land fires, namely in Kuantan Singingi Regency, Rokan Hulu Regency, and Pelalawan Regency," he said.

His party appealed to the public not to clear land by burning as an effort to reduce the number of forest and land fires in Riau.

Apart from BPBD, he said again, the TNI-Polri also participated, through Bhabinkamtibmas and Babinsa, they also involved in intensifying socialization related to the dangers of burning forests and land when they wanted to open new plantation areas.

"We need to continue to strive to take precautions as well as a signal of early detecting the potential for forest and land fires. In addition, we are also intensifying patrols with teams in the regions," he said.