Army Soldier Allegedly Involved In Riau Land Fires

Padang, W Sumatra, March 21 (Antara) - Chief of the Bukit Barisan Regional Military Command I Maj. Gen. Istu Hari Subagyo confirmed on Thursday that an Army soldier has been arrested for allegedly being involved in land fires in Riau province. "The arrested soldier is a chief sergeant identified by his initial as S. He works for one of the military district commands under the purview of the Bukit Barisan Regional Military Command I," he said. The Army soldier was being questioned for his alleged part in the land fires, he said. If at the military tribunal the soldier was found guilty of setting fire to land, he would be sacked, he said. "I don`t want any of soldiers of the Bukit Barisan Regional Military Command I to take action outside their duties," he said. Maj. Gen. Istu said National Defense Forces (TNI) soldiers were still deployed in Riau to control haze caused by peat land fires. "The TNI soldiers are doing to the best of their ability. They successfully put out fires in a number of areas which have caught fire since a few days ago," he pointed out. No hotspot was found in Pekanbaru now, he said. "Based on the report, no hotspot is found in Pekanbaru now. The rain has also poured down the area," he said. Yet, the TNI soldiers kept patrolling the areas, he said. If no hotspot was found in three days` time, the military would evaluate the haze handling effort and report it to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "The President has set the target of putting out the fires in a week but we have set ourselves the target of doing so in 10 days," he said.