REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, RIAU - About 185 hotspots, possibly forest fires, had been found in Riau province recently, spokesman to National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Agus Wibowo said on Wednesday.

"The recent number is an increase compared to our finding last Tuesday (July 23) of 48 hotspots," he said.

Meanwhile analyst from Pekanbaru`s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Warih Budi Lestari predicted hotspots would keep emerging in Riau province.  Indonesia is in a drought season now meaning there will be little rain to eradicate them.

"From mid to end of July there is a dynamic graphic of hotspot occurrences in Riau. If it rains, the hotspots will reduce, but if it`s not, the number of hotspots will be increasing," he said.

Warih called on local people not to burn forest in order to open new plantation. Such action, he said, would hinder efforts to reduce hotspots in Riau.

Last June, Riau province suffered the worst due to an increase of hotspots allegedly originated from intentional forest fire by local people. Thousands of people are suffering acute respiratory disease because of the haze resulting from the forest fires. The haze even impacted people in neighboring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia

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