Smog Begins to Shroud Dumai

KOMPAS/ZULKARNAINI

An officer sprays water on peatland on Jl. Meranti Darat, Simpang Tetap Darul Ichsan village, West Dumai district, Dumai city, Riau, Friday (22/2/2019). From January to Feb. 22, an 858-hectare area near the location was gutted by a fire. The most severely affected area was Rupat Island district, Bengkalis regency, Riau.

BENGKALIS, KOMPAS – A fire affecting hundreds of hectares of peatland in several regions of Riau province could not be fully suppressed on Friday (22/2/2019). Consequently, a thin layer of smog has begun to shroud Dumai.

A widespread peatland fire occurred in Rupat district, Bengkalis regency, Riau. High temperatures and strong winds in the area have caused the fire to spread. Peatland and tree branches are easily flammable.

Some 200 personnel from the Manggala Agni forest fire brigade and other agencies have been working hard to put out fires in more than 300 hectares of peatland in the area. Fire trucks and helicopters belonging to the Environment and Forestry Ministry and private corporation Sinar Mas were deployed to water bomb hot spots in Rupat. “We successfully put out some of the fire,” Dumai Manggala Agni team III commander Hamdani said.

Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Edwar Sanger said firefighting was concentrated in Rupat district, Bengkalis, and would continue this Saturday. “Our friends in Rupat are working hard to put out the fire. Things are improving,” he said.

Previously, peatland fires were spread in several regions in Riau, including in Rokan Hulu, Rokan Hilir, Dumai, Meranti Islands, Siak, Pekanbaru, Kampar, Pelalawan, Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir and Kuantan Singingi. Riau BPBD records show that 858 hectares of peatland caught fire in January and February of 2019.

Satellite-based monitoring by the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on Thursday found 44 hot spots in several regencies. Bengkalis has the most hot spots, at 14 locations.

On Friday afternoon, wind blew westerly and smog from Rupat reached Dumai. However, locals continued their activities as usual.

If the wind blows easterly, the smog from Rupat may reach Malaysia. Rupat is a frontier island that directly borders Malaysia.

Hot spots are also found in Dumai. However, some of them have been put out. Firefighters apply cooling techniques to prevent the fire from reemerging. In Simpang Tetap Darul Ichsan subdistrict, West Dumai district, for instance around a dozen firefighters poured water onto spots in the peatland that still emitted smoke.

Dumai BPBD head Afrilagan said 49 hectares of peatland caught fire in Dumai. Several hot spots are still burning but most of them are already in cooling process.

BMKG Pekanbaru station head Sukisno said the monitored hot spots were peatland fires. Hot weather through Riau may lead to the spread of the fires.

Bored wells

In Pulang Pisau regency, Central Kalimantan, the government’s bored wells are not fully effective in wetting peatland. A majority of the bored wells are used only when there are fires.

“We only use them when there are fires near the bored wells,” said Lampang Abel, 47, the secretary of the Merpati Forest Aware Community (MPA) in Gohong village, Pulang Pisau regency.

Bored wells and canals are one in three aspects of the peatland restoration plan set out by the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) after the forest and peatland fires in 2015. Bored wells and canals were made to wet damaged peatland. Some 8,875 bored wells and 2,534 canals were made by the government in 2017-2018. (AIN/IDO)