TENS OF HECTARES OF BUSHES ON FIRE IN SOUTH SUMATRA

Lahat, South Sumatra, Sept. 23 (ANTARA) - Tens of hectares of bushes caught fire in Mulak and Kota Agung subdistricts, Lahat District, South Sumatra Province, on Wednesday.

The bushes covered an area located between human settlements and plantations.

The area was very dry as no rain had fallen on it for the past three months, Solihin, a resident of Mulak Ulu village, Lahat, said here on Wednesday.

The forest area which is prone to fire is mostly covered by bushes and weed and stretched from Kota Agung Lahat to Semendo Muaraenim subdistrict, he said.

The worst affected areas are Mulak Ulu and Mulak Ilir villages which border on forests in the Bukit Barisan region, he said.

"More than 20 hectares of forest area have been gutted by fire during the current dry season," he said.

Fires were usually caused by cigarette butts thrown away carelessly by passersby, he said.

Lahat Deputy District Head Sukadi Duaji said local authorities would intensify supervision to prevent forest fires in the future. Meanwhile, South Sumatra province has around 1,483,662 hectares of peatland prone to fire.

To prevent fires , local authorities had intensified monitoring and campaigns to inform the public not to clear land by burning bushes , Sigit Wibowo, head of the South Sumatra provincial forestry service, said in Palembang recently.

Some 208 fire brigade personnel were ready to anticipate any peat forest fire, he said.

The South Sumatra administration had also taken measures to anticipate fires in forest areas covering 3,683,670 hectares, plantations covering 1.8 million hectares, and agricultural areas covering 752,000 hectares.

At least 1,023 hotspots of forest and plantation fires had been detected in eight districts/cities, such as Musirawas, Musibanyasin and Ogan Komering Ilir.