Around 10,000 hectares of bush in Riau catches fire
Around 10,000 hectares of bush in Riau catches fire
2 March 2006
published by www.antara.co.id
Pekanbaru, Riau — The area of bush that caught fire in Riau province over the past few days has reached 10,000 hectares, Chief of the Riau Provincial Environmental Impact Management Board (Bapedalda) Khairul Zainal said on Thursday.
“The area of bush that caught fire covers 10,000 hectares that`s why smoke began to appear in Riau over the past two days,” he said.
The fires affected not only the barren land owned by local people but also the land owned by plantation companies, such as PT Adei Plantation and PT Arara Abadi, he said.
“In the plantation areas owned by the two companies, the area of bush that caught fire is quite large that`s why efforts must be made to put out the fire,” he said.
Asked about hot spots, he said based on data from the NOAA satellite the number of hot spots was 12.
“Once again we should remind the people and companies in Riau of the need to stay alert for the hot spots,” he said.
The hot spots spread in Dumai municipality, Rokan Hilir and Bengkalis districts, he said. “The three areas still top the list of areas in Riau in terms of hot spots,” he said.
