JAKARTA (Bernama): Indonesia is battling forest and land fires affecting another 31 hectares across three provinces in Sulawesi and Papua, beyond six priority provinces where firefighting operations have been ongoing for months.
National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre acting head Berton Panjaitan said a 20-hectare fire that broke out on Oct 4 in Mamuju, West Sulawesi province, remained active as of Friday, with smoke spreading to nearby communities.
"The local government is also digging trenches using heavy machinery to prevent the fire from spreading beneath the peatland surface,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
The six priority provinces are Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra on Sumatra island, and West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan on Borneo Island, where 270 high-confidence hotspots were detected as of Friday night.
Berton said another five-hectare fire that began on Oct 8 in Sigi, Central Sulawesi province, also remained active, while firefighting continued in Nabire, Central Papua province, following a six-hectare fire that started on Oct 7.
Meanwhile, he said fires affecting a further 161.97 hectares across four provinces had been extinguished, including 123.2 hectares in Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua, following fires between Oct 4 and 7; 22.77 hectares in Bali from Oct 6; and eight hectares each in East Java and Bangka Belitung from Oct 8.
Separately, Berton said an 11-hectare fire at the Takome landfill in Ternate, North Maluku, remained difficult to extinguish as smoke spread to nearby residential areas, raising health concerns.
He said firefighting efforts were hampered by flames spreading deep into rubbish piles more than five metres high, strong winds, methane gas and limited equipment, while Ternate remains under a disaster emergency declaration until Oct 16.
-- BERNAMA
