Indonesian President demands utmost efforts to stamp out forest fires
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has requested utmost efforts to extinguish widespread forest fires in the country, warning that officials would be sacked if they fail.
A fireman tries to put out peat land fire in Ogan Ilir regency of South Sumatra province, Indonesia, on August 5 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo hasrequested utmost efforts to extinguish widespread forest fires in the country,warning that officials would be sacked if they fail.
He made the statement amidst thousands ofmilitary and police personnel being deployed after the country had declared ofa state of emergency due to forest fires in six provinces on Sumatra Island andKalimantan province on Borneo Island.
Addressing a coordinating meeting on tacklingforest fires at the presidential palace on August 6, he said he phoned themilitary and police chiefs to tell them to replace those who can’t resolveforest and land fires.
He demanded the forces not to underestimate hotspotsand immediately put out small fires, not wait until they get bigger.
President Widodo also requested modern equipmentlike drones to be used to detect hotspots, pledging government funds for suchequipment.
Indonesian farmers use fire to clear land duringthe dry season, but fires can rage out of control and produce haze spreading toneighbouring countries like Singapore and Malaysia.
Indonesia has recorded the highest number ofhotspots this year since the devastating fires in 2015, making it face globalpressure to put an end to slash-and-burn practice for clearance of land.
It has recorded 975 hotspots so far this yearwith 135,000ha of land burned across 18 provinces. -VNA
The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, has detected 54 hotspots at high risk of bush and forest fires in several parts of Riau province, Sumatra island.
Authorities of several regions in Indonesia have been reminded to intensify the monitoring for possible forest fires and droughts, as this year's dry season is forecast to be drier compared to the previous year.
Indonesia is deploying thousands of military and police to douse forest fires after declaring an emergency in six provinces on the island of Sumatra and in the province of Kalimantan on Borneo island.
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A fireman tries to put out peat land fire in Ogan Ilir regency of South Sumatra province, Indonesia, on August 5 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) 
