REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU - Special team in Riau dropped 1.6 tonnes of water bomb to contain forest fires in Riau. National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) database head, Agus Wibowo said that Sikorsky plane made 348 flights to drop the water.

"This operation involves a number of planes," Wibowo said on Monday.

Sikorsky plane has a payload capacity of 3,600 liters per flight with total of 1.25 million liters of waters. The plane has dropped the water to several areas, including Bengkalis and Dumai. 

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued two policies to deal with the smoke, namely short and long term policies. In short term, President gave three week deadljne to contain the forest fires in Riau, including mobilize all existing equipments.

In long term, government vowed to address the forest fire issue in three ways. They are proceeding plantation owners to strictly follow the regulation, halting illegal logging practices, and providing standard operating procedure with real action to prevent fires in future from reoccurring.

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