Of the total hotspots, 415 were detected in South Sumatra ..."Padang (ANTARA News) - The Terra and Aqua satellites detected 557 hotspots indicating forest and plantation fires across Sumatra Island on Tuesday at 5 a.m. local time.
"Of the total hotspots, 415 were detected in South Sumatra, 125 in Jambi, eight in Riau, five in Riau Islands, and four in Lampung," Budi Satria of the Koto Tabang meteorology office stated here, Tuesday.
The fires produced haze that has also affected West Sumatra, he pointed out.
The pollutant standard index in West Sumatra reached 303 micrograms per cubic meter of air (ug/m3), which is considered to be categorically unhealthy, he remarked.
In the meantime, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has decided to cut short his visit in the United States and to head to Sumatra and Kalimantan to closely monitor the efforts to put out the ongoing forest and plantation fires.
While in the Blair House in Washington D.C. on Monday (Oct. 26) at about 10:30 a.m. local time, the president had a telephonic conversation with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security affairs (Menkopolhukan) Luhut Binsar Panjaitan who is in charge of monitoring the countrys haze situation.
"Just now, I rang up Menkopolhukan regarding the smog condition especially in the provinces of Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra as I have received information that most hotspots have been detected here," Jokowi stated.
"Due to several complaints from the public related to the health and social impacts of the haze, I have decided to cancel my trip to the West Coast," he remarked.
"From here (US we will) directly go to Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra, while for the planned visit to the West Coast, I have assigned the relevant ministers to continue the visit to meet the CEOs to explore cooperation in the fields of information technology and creative economy," the president noted.
(Uu.F001/INE/KR-BSR)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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