Pekanbaru, Riau, (Antarariau.com)- A total area measuring 1,246 hectares (ha) across Riau Province was razed by wildfires from June 24 to July 26, 2015, stated Chairman of the Riau Forest and Plantation Fires Task Force Major General Nurendi.
The worst affected district is Rokan Hilir, with 400 ha razed by wildfires, following by Pelalawan (232 ha), Bengkalis (177 ha), Dumai City (124 ha), Nurendi, who is concurrently commander of the Wira Bima 031 regional military command (Korem), noted here, recently.
The task force s personnel managed to put out fires in 1,125 ha of area, he remarked.
"However, due to the extreme hot weather and most of the affected land being peatland area, most of the fires reemerge if not supervised carefully," he pointed out.
He has ordered his personnel to closely supervise the affected peatland areas.
According to Chief of the Riau disaster mitigation office Edwar Sanger, the office has deployed two helicopters: Mi 17 and Sikorsky to conduct water bombing activities over the fires.
Besides this, a Hercules aircraft has also been deployed to conduct cloud seeding to produce artificial rains by using weather modification technology in Riau, which is currently being hit by El Nino-induced drought.
The task force comprises joint teams from the Riau administration, the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), the National Police, the Riau disaster mitigation office, and the Riau meteorology and climatology office.
Wildfires Raze Over One Thousand Hectares Of Land In Riau
