11 Hotspots Detected In Sumatra

Pekanbaru, Riau, April 9 (Antara) - The US-owned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites detected 11 hotpots on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday, Riau Province`s Disaster Mitigation Agency revealed. Two of the hotspots were detected in the villages of Kain Utara in Kampar Kiri Subdistrict, Kampar District, and of Tenggayun in Bukit Batu Subdistrict, Bengkalis District, Riau Province, the agency`s report noted. Despite the end of the integrated Riau Haze Disaster Mitigation Task Force`s operation, the efforts to extinguish fires in the hotspots continue, Head of Riau Province`s Disaster Mitigation Agency Said Saqlul Amri pointed out. The haze disaster had hit various parts of Riau over the past three months and affected activities and health of more than 55 thousand people there. The police had named at least 109 people as suspects and detained 93 of them for their alleged involvement in the slash-and-burn clearing of land and forests.