Disaster alert declared in four Indonesian provinces as forest fire threat looms
By Victor Loh
Published 20 February, 2018
Updated 20 February, 2018
SINGAPORE — Indonesia's disaster agency has declared disaster alert status for four provinces, including Riau province near Singapore, as the number of hotspots from forest fires spiked.
The affected provinces are South Sumatra, Riau, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.
The alert status will allow the central government to mobilise resources to easily mitigate any fire threats, the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) said in a statement on Wednesday (Feb 21).
The four provinces — which lie close to the equator — are currently entering the start of the dry season, BNPB added.
The dry season in Indonesia usually happens in two phases: From the middle of January to March, and June to September. It is interrupted by the rainy season from March to May.
In the last 24 hours alone, weather satellites are said to have detected some 90 hotspots in Indonesia.
On Tuesday, data from the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) showed two hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
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