Pekanbaru, Riau, Sept 20 (Antarariau.com) - Police in Riau province have arrested two people suspected of involvement in setting forest and land fires.
"The two suspects were arrested after we received a report from the Indragiri Hilir district police," spokesman of the Riau provincial police Adj. Snr. Comr. Guntur Aryo Tejo said in a short text message on Saturday afternoon.
He added that they were arrested during emergency response operations launched in each district in the province to prevent haze disasters.
During the second phase of emergency response operations, which lasted from April 5 to September 19, 2014, the provincial police have handled 70 cases of forest and land fires and identified 119 suspects.
Guntur said the Riau provincial police has also assisted the local natural disaster mitigation agency in extinguishing hotspots in several parts of the province to prevent the spread of haze.
"The other step is taking legal actions against those involved in land fires. Therefore, police are strongly committed to helping the government overcome the issue of haze and land fires," he said.
Since early 2014, forest and land fires in Riau have destroyed 25 thousand hectares of forests in the province.
Additionally, the local health office reported more than 23 thousand people from different districts in the province have suffered upper tract respiratory infections.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) station in Pekanbaru said on Saturday that Satellite Modis Terra and Aqua has detected six hotspots in the province.
Two People Named Suspects in Riaus Forest and Land Fires
