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Indonesia in battle to stop forest fires

This article is more than 12 months old

Emergencies declared with thousands being deployed to fight fires

JAKARTA: Indonesia is deploying thousands of military personnel and police to douse forest fires after declaring an emergency in six provinces on the island of Sumatra and in the province of Kalimantan on Borneo, a disaster mitigation official said yesterday.

Indonesia has faced global pressure to put an end to slash-and-burn clearance of land, often to plant palm and pulp plantations, particularly after devastating fires in 2015.

Fires Indonesian farmers use to clear land during the dry season can rage out of control, bringing a choking haze that can affect neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Drought has hit large parts of the archipelago as a mild El Nino weather pattern disrupts the dry season, weather officials say, with its peak expected from mid-August to mid-September.

The number of hot spots nationwide has been increasing, with 124 intense enough to suggest fires detected by yesterday morning, said Mr Agus Wibowo, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

The government has declared an emergency in the provinces of Riau, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Jambi, South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, where extensive peatlands are particularly prone to fires, he added.

Authorities have brought in 5,679 additional personnel to five of the provinces, drawn from the military, police and the regional disaster mitigation agency, Mr Agus said.

WATER BOMBING

Also being deployed are aircraft that can run water bombing operations.

In Riau, disaster authorities have made available 17 helicopters, with 10 more brought in from private firms, the military and the forestry ministry, he added.

In Riau's capital of Pekanbaru, some teachers and school children wore masks in classrooms and were urged to limit outdoor activity because of haze concerns, the Antara state news agency said.

To help stop the fires and preserve crops, the authorities are turning to cloud-seeding, by shooting salt flares into clouds in an attempt to trigger rain. - REUTERS

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