Majority of the hot spots were detected in the province`s northern coastal areas, Head of the Riau Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Sukisno said by referring to the Terra & Aqua Satellite`s latest images.
"Rokan Hilir District has 97 hot spots," he noted, adding that the other northern coastal areas which contributed to the hot spots were Bengkalis District and Dumai city with one and two hot spots, respectively.
The remaining hot spots were detected in Riau Province`s central areas, particularly the districts of Siak, Kampar, and Pelalawan, he stated.
Around 87 of the 103 hot spots had a level of confidence of above 70 percent, indicating possible occurrences of land and forest fires in the affected areas.
Sukisno remarked that 85 hot spots were detected in Rokan Hilir District and the remaining in Bengkalis and Dumai.
Despite related authorities` ongoing efforts to extinguish the land and forest fires, the relatively low rainfall intensity makes Riau Province remain vulnerable to the spread of potential land and forest fires.
Sukisno explained that the BMKG has forecast that mild rain would likely shower the areas of Rokan Hilir District early in the morning, while the maximum temperature during mid-day could reach 35 degree Celsius.
The Riau Land and Forest Fire Task Force continues its ground and aerial firefighting operations by using four water bombing choppers.
However, the dry-bulb temperature and wind blows have hampered the task force`s fire fighters to extinguish the land and forest fires on wetland.
Due to Riau Province`s geographical proximity with Malaysia and Singapore, the forest fire smoke can likely affect the two neighbors if the task force`s firefighting efforts fail, and the wind blows the haze towards the two countries.
President Joko Widodo had warned earlier that the related authorities should do their best to ensure that the 18th Asian Games, due to be held in Jakarta and Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatra Province, from Aug 18 to Sept 2, is not disrupted by land and forest fires.
"As the Asian Games host, we must be able to ensure that the land and forest fires will not occur during the multi-sport event, so that our image and flights are not disrupted by the haze," Widodo told attendants of a coordinating meeting for the Forest and Land Fire Mitigation in Jakarta last February.
Indonesia will host the Asian Games for the second time this year after Jakarta was selected as the venue for the Asian sporting event for the first time in 1962. By virtue of its hosting of the 2018 games, the country aims to secure a place among the top 10 largest sporting events.
Some 45 countries will participate in the games that will feature 462 events across 40 sports, of which 32 are Olympic sports and eight are non-Olympic events.
Reported by FB Anggoro
Edited by Rahmad Nasution, Eliswan
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
