248 Hectares Of Land In Riau Burned Down, The Largest In Bengkalis

Forest and land fire suppression (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The area of land burned in the Riau Province from the beginning of January 2021 until now has reached 248.95 hectares.

According to data from the Riau Province Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the most extensive land fires occurred in Bengkalis Regency. The burnt peatland in Bengkalis covers 82 hectares (ha).

The land fire also occurred in Siak Regency (45 ha), Dumai City (40 ha), Indragiri Hilir Regency (40 ha), Pelalawan Regency (26 ha), Meranti Islands (4 ha), Indragiri Hulu (5 ha), and Rokan. Downstream (5 ha).

Riau Governor Syamsuar set an emergency status for the forest and land fires in his area from mid-February to 31 October 2021.

"We have also deployed a joint team from the National Army (TNI), the Police Force (Polri), the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), and Manggala Agni, including extinguishing assistance from companies in the vicinity of the fire", he said as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, February 24.

According to the Pekanbaru Station of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), on Tuesday morning the satellite detected 20 hotspots, an initial indication of forest and land fires on the island of Sumatra and 15 of them in Riau.

In the Riau region, hotspots were observed in Siak District (10), Dumai City (2), Pelalawan (2), and Indragiri Hilir (1).

Riau Deputy Governor Edy Narat Nasution asked all parties to help prevent forest and land fires.

"If it is widespread, (blackouts) are expensive, up to trillions, it will take a long time and a lot of personnel to overcome them. So prevention must be done from the start", said Edy Natar Nasution.