Indonesia battles another 31 hectares of fires beyond the six priority provinces

Photo: REUTERS/Abriansyah Liberto

JAKARTA (Bernama): Indonesia is battling forest and land fires affecting another 31 hectares across three provinces in Sulawesi and Papua, beyond six priority provinces where firefighting operations have been ongoing for months.

National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre acting head Berton Panjaitan said a 20-hectare fire that broke out on Oct 4 in Mamuju, West Sulawesi province, remained active as of Friday, with smoke spreading to nearby communities.

"The local government is also digging trenches using heavy machinery to prevent the fire from spreading beneath the peatland surface,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

The six priority provinces are Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra on Sumatra island, and West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan on Borneo Island, where 270 high-confidence hotspots were detected as of Friday night.

Berton said another five-hectare fire that began on Oct 8 in Sigi, Central Sulawesi province, also remained active, while firefighting continued in Nabire, Central Papua province, following a six-hectare fire that started on Oct 7.

Meanwhile, he said fires affecting a further 161.97 hectares across four provinces had been extinguished, including 123.2 hectares in Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua, following fires between Oct 4 and 7; 22.77 hectares in Bali from Oct 6; and eight hectares each in East Java and Bangka Belitung from Oct 8.

Separately, Berton said an 11-hectare fire at the Takome landfill in Ternate, North Maluku, remained difficult to extinguish as smoke spread to nearby residential areas, raising health concerns.

He said firefighting efforts were hampered by flames spreading deep into rubbish piles more than five metres high, strong winds, methane gas and limited equipment, while Ternate remains under a disaster emergency declaration until Oct 16.

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照片：路透社/Abriansyah Liberto

雅加达（马新社）：印尼正与森林和土地火灾作斗争，火灾已蔓延至苏拉威西岛和巴布亚省的三个省份，过火面积达 31 公顷。此前，已有六个重点省份的灭火行动持续了数月。

国家灾害管理署（BNPB）灾害数据、信息和通信中心代理负责人伯顿·潘贾伊坦表示，10月4日在西苏拉威西省马穆朱发生的20公顷火灾截至周五仍在燃烧，烟雾蔓延至附近社区。

“当地政府也在使用重型机械挖掘沟渠，以防止火势蔓延到泥炭地表面以下，”他在周六的一份声明中说。

六个优先省份分别是苏门答腊岛上的廖内省、占碑省和南苏门答腊省，以及婆罗洲岛上的西加里曼丹省、中加里曼丹省和南加里曼丹省，截至周五晚间，已在这些省份检测到 270 个高置信度热点地区。

伯顿表示，10 月 8 日在苏拉威西中部省锡吉发生的 5 公顷火灾仍在持续，而 10 月 7 日在巴布亚中部省纳比雷发生的 6 公顷火灾的灭火工作仍在继续。

与此同时，他表示，四个省份共计 161.97 公顷的火灾已被扑灭，其中包括 10 月 4 日至 7 日在西南巴布亚省拉贾安帕特发生的火灾扑灭了 123.2 公顷；10 月 6 日在巴厘岛扑灭了 22.77 公顷；以及 10 月 8 日在东爪哇省和邦加勿里洞省各扑灭了 8 公顷。

另外，伯顿表示，北马鲁古省特尔纳特市塔科梅垃圾填埋场发生的11公顷火灾仍然难以扑灭，因为烟雾蔓延到附近的居民区，引发了人们对健康的担忧。

他表示，由于火焰蔓延到五米多高的垃圾堆深处、强风、甲烷气体和设备有限，消防工作受到阻碍，而特尔纳特仍处于灾难紧急状态，直至 10 月 16 日。

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