TEMPO.CO, Pekanbaru - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said haze of black smokes from forest and bush fires began to cause visibility problem in Riau in the past two days.
"Thick and black clouds began to blanket Dumai and Pekanbaru limiting visibility, especially in the morning," Slamet Riyadi of the provincial BMKG said Sunday, August 28, 2016.
Slamet said that the visibility is limited to one kilometer in Dumai and 2.1 kilometers in Pekanbaru as against normally more than 5 kilometers in the morning.
Hotspots have been detected in various areas in Riau over the past week disrupting flight schedule.
Last Thursday, the Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) said it had detained 85 forest fire individual suspects in Riau this year.
"In addition, nine companies are being investigated for alleged involvement in forest fires," Bareskrim chief Insp. Gen. Ari Dono Sukmanto said here.
The suspects are facing a jail term of 15 years and a fine of Rp5 billion if found guilty, the police general said.
Last year, 15 plantation and forestry companies in the list of forest fire suspects were released by police drawing protest from environmental activists.
Police said the case against the 15 companies was dropped as there was not enough evidence found against them.
ANTARA