Riau Government to make artificial rain
The government in Riau has set to create artificial downpours as an attempt to extinguish forest fires
The Environmental and Forestry Minister in Riau will begin weather modification on Monday and put firm laws in place to prohibit forest fires in the provinces of Indonesia.
A report from the forest fire executive at the Environment and Forestry Ministry explained that the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) is working in partnership with the ministry to create artificial rain as an effort to stamp out forest fires in Riau.
According to the Environmental and Forestry Minister in Riau the experiment to begin weather modification will begin on Monday.
The Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya said that the government would maintain urgency in handling forest fires and land-burning in the hope that all sides would conform to the prohibited act of burning for land clearing purposes.
Nurbaya said: “We have made coordination with security and law enforcement authorities to arrest any companies or farmers using fires in land clearing”.
Over recent years Riau and several other provinces have faced an alarming degree of thick haze during the dry season. The smog is generated from forest fires and land clearing.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru, Riau, has detected 39 hotspots, mostly in Bengkalis, Meranti, Rokan Hulu, Indragiri Hilir and Pelalawan.
Not only has the haze caused concerns for air transportation but it has impacted daily activities in Riau and neighbouring provinces such as Malaysia and Singapore. The thick haze has also triggered health problems for the local residents.
