REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU - The US-owned NOAA 18 satellite detected 40 hotspots resulting from forest and plantation fires across Sumatra on Sunday afternoon. The number of hotspots increased significantly from 11 on the previous day, Head of the Riau disaster mitigation office (BPBD) Said Saqlul Amri noted on Monday.

Of the 40 hotspots, three were in Indragiri Hulu District, Riau Province, he pointed out. The Modis Terra and Aqua satellites, however, detected no hotspots in Riau, on Sunday. The satellites had earlier recorded 12 hotspots in Riau.

The Riau authorities have strengthened law enforcement and intensified preventive measures against forest and plantation fires, according to Amri. During the period between April and August, Riau's provincial police have named 90 suspects in forest-related crimes, particularly in connection with forest fires and illegal logging activities.

The suspects were involved in 61 cases, of which 23 were forest and plantation fire cases and 38 were illegal logging and encroachment cases. Court trials have been organized across several cities in Riau to deal with some of the cases.

Meanwhile, Minister of Forestry Zulkifli Hasan recently reported that the perpetrators had set off forest and land fires in Riau provincial districts and cities on a massive scale.

"I strongly condemn the perpetrators of the (forest and land fires)," the minister informed the press in Pekanbaru.

Zulkifli had visited Riau to directly monitor the land and forest fires in several regions, including the Rokan Hilir District.

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