A number of hotspots of forest and plantation fires were detected in eight sub-districts in Tanah Laut District, South Kalimantan Province, an official said here on Wednesday.
“The eight sub-districts are Pelaihari, Tambang Ulang, Bati-Bati, Kurau, Bumi Makmur, Jorong, Kintap and Panyipatan,” Ahmad Hairin, head of the Tanah Laut forestry office, announced.
The forestry office detected 14 hotspots in forest as well as non-forest areas in 14 villages in the districts.
The affected villages are Bajuin, Pulau Sari, Raden, Sungai Cuka, Sebuhur, Nusa Indah, Batalang, Kandangan Lama, Tambak Karya, Kali Besar, Tambak Sarinah, Batakan and Banua Raya.
He suspected that hotspots which indicated wild fires, were caused by cigarette butts.
Meanwhile, Indonesia has nine provinces, which are prone to forest fires due to several factors, including drought, noted Arief Yuwono, deputy III of the Ministry of Environment.
“Data have been collected on the nine provinces. The provinces have to take preventive measures in order to act immediately if forest fire occurs,” Arief stated in Jakarta, on Tuesday.
The nine provinces are North and South Sumatra, Jambi, and Riau, as well as West, East, Central, South, and North Kalimantan.
The major forest fires occurred in Riau Province last year, and this year the major fires are expected to occur in South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan, he said.
“In Riau Province, forest fires in 2013 had raged across 20 thousand hectares, and losses incurred by the state reached Rp10 trillion. Ecological features sustained heavy damage,” he added.
Last week, the Singapore-operated NOAA satellite recorded 144 hotspots in Sumatra island on Tuesday (Sept. 2), which was a significant increase as compared to less than 100 hotspots recorded previously, noted an official.
“The hotspots are no longer centered in Riau province as has been the case in the previous years, but rather in some parts of Sumatra Island such as in Jambi and South Sumatra province,” Riau provinces Chief of Disaster Mitigation Office Said Saqlul Amri stated in Pekanbaru, Riau, recently.
