ID :
61760
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 21:21
Auther :

NUMBER OF HOT SPOTS IN RIAU DECLINES

Pekanbaru, Indonesia, May 21 (ANTARA) - The number of hot spots induced by forest and plantation fires, has declined to six, according to a local official.

"The number of hot spots indicating forest and plantation fires in Riau on Thursday decreases from that a day earlier," Marzuki, an analyst of the Pekanbaru meteorological and geophysics office, said here Thursday.

According to data from the NOAA 18 satellite, there were only six hot spots in Riau, he said.

The six hot spots were detected respectively in Kampar District (two hot spots), Pelelawan District (two), and Indragiri Hulu (two), he said.

The haze covering Pekanbaru has also decreased as the number of hot spots declined, he said.

On Wednesday (May 20), the visibility in Pekanbaru was only three kilometers only due to the haze, which also disturbed flights at Sultan Syarif Kasim airport in the city, he said.

The meteorological office predicted that the drought level in the province would still be at an extreme level until several days to come as rains would not fall, except in northern and southern Riau.

He called on local farmers not to open farming or plantation areas by burning trees in the forest. ***


X