Indonesia Ready to Tackle Forest Fire During National Sports Fair
Indonesia Ready to Tackle Forest Fire During National Sports Fair
26 March 2012
published by www.malaysiandigest.com
Indonesia — Indonesia is ready to tackle forest fires in the event of these happening during the 17th National Sports Fair to be held in Riau province in September 9-20, Xinhua news agency quoted an official saying Monday.
Forest fires are expected to occur from August to October in eight provinces including Riau, which will host the National Sports Fair, said National Agency of Disaster Management (BNPB) first secretary Fatchul Hadi.
The BNPB is ready to lend support to the event by tackling smoke from forest fires as it had done during the 26th SEA Games in South Sumatra’s capital Palembang in Nov 21-23 last year, said Hadi.
“Riau has in coordination with various stakeholders as well as local military and non-environmental organisations declared to prepare to face a forest fire disaster. Once they see one hot spot, they will extinguish it immediately before it spreads,” he said.
Neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Singapore have often expressed concern of haze resulting from forest fires spreading to their territories.
