President Jokowi Warns About Impending Forest Fires

National Disaster Mitigation [BNPB] head Doni Monardo said the danger from the forest fires’ smoke is more dire than ever.

“We need to check the forest fires, because their smoke is particularly dangerous for people with respiratory illnesses, like asthma and the corona virus” said the three star army general.

“Fires from peatlands are particularly dangerous, as their soils’ composition make it particularly thick.”

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The Environment and Forestry Ministry noted that the fires burned through 1.65 million hectares in 2019. Most of the fires occurred in peatland.

The devastation is the second worst to occur since the 2015 forest fires, which destroyed 2.61 million hectares. Aside from Indonesia, the forest fires also plagued Singapore and Malaysia.

(Writer: Rakhmat Nur Hakim/Editors: Icha Rastika, Diamanty Meiliana)

Sources: 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/06/23/10220921/jokowi-di-tengah-kesibukan-hadapi-pandemi-jangan-lupa-antisipasi-karhutla. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/06/23/11454631/doni-monardo-hindari-asap-karhutla-agar-selamat-dari-bahaya-covid-19.