REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PANGKALPINANG -- The Terra and Aqua satellites detected some 57 hotspots indicating forest and plantation fires in Bangka Belitung Islands, on Monday.
"Of the total, 26 were found in South Bangka District," Akhmad Fadholi of the Pangkalpinang meteorology office stated here, Monday.
In South Bangka, 13 hotspots were detected in Payung Sub-district, seven in Simpang Rimba, and three each in the sub-districts of Air Gegas and Toboali.
Of the six hotspots detected in Central Bangka District, two were found in Pangkalan Baru and four in Kota Empat.
Ten hotspots were found in Belitung District, seven in West Bangka District, and four each in Bangka and East Belitung Districts.
He called on the local farmers to not set fires to clear land during the current drought and windy weather as the fires could become uncontrollable.
In the meantime, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) earlier stated that the number of hotspots detected in Sumatra and Kalimantan had continued to increase despite the government's efforts to intensify its emergency operations.
"Although we have launched emergency operations, the number of hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan has continued to increase, reaching 1,887," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted in a press statement in Jakarta on Saturday (Sept. 12).
Some 1,887 hotspots comprising 575 hotspots in Sumatra and 1,312 in Kalimantan were detected by the Terra and Aqua Satellites on Friday at 5 a.m. Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB).
In Sumatra, 449 hotspots were mostly detected in South Sumatra Province, 93 in Jambi Province, 49 in Bangka Belitung Province, and 11 in Riau Province.
In Kalimantan, a total of 1,312 hotspots were detected, with 508 being located in West Kalimantan, 127 in South Kalimantan, 579 in Central Kalimantan, 95 in East Kalimantan, and four in North Kalimantan.
New BNPB Chief Willem Rampangilei stated on Friday that operational plans to put out forest and bush fires should be carried out simultaneously.
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