Govt Allocating US$2 Mln In Technology For Handling Haze

Pekanbaru, Riau province, June 24 (Antara) - The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) estimated the government will have to spend US$2 million or Rp20 billion to handle forest fires happening in Riau Province. The fires cause thick haze which covers the province and neighboring countries namely Malaysia and Singapore. "The money will be used to finance activities to extinguish the fires such as artificial rain and water bomb projects," BPPT`s Chief of Artificial Rain Project Heru Widodo said here on Monday. He said BPPT has been conducting artificial rain procedure for several times in Dumai city and Bengkalis district, but the haze remains thick because fires are still happening in other areas in Riau. According to Heru, the focus now is to minimize the fires. He said the BPPT sets target of one month in handling the forest fires incident either by modifying the weather or direct extinction to the fires. Earlier it was reported that Sultan Syarif Kaim airport is closed due to low visibility (under 700 meters).