Rupat Island People Suffers Disease due to Forest Fire

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - People living in Rupat Island, Bengkalis Regency, started to suffer disease due to exposure to the haze caused by land and forest fire that hit several coastal areas of Riau for the past two weeks.

“Our Puskesmas (Community Health Center) have treated several patients suffering from coughs, flu due to haze,” said Rupat sub-district head Hanafi when contacted by Antara Monday, February 25.

Hanafi explained that Rupat sub-district had been exposed to smoke, and for the past four days, the condition continually worsen. Today, February 25, the haze is monitored on a dangerous level with a visibility of 100 meters.

Read also: Land Fires in Riau Arose Far from Settlement: BRG

In general, Hanafi mentioned, victims who fell ill due to haze consisted of adults and several babies. However, locals did not evacuate yet despite thick smoke exposure.

The public activity is categorized as normal. However, he appealed to the people to reduce outdoor activities and those starting to feel ill to report and get treatment to the nearest Puskesmas.

Today, he continued to say, Bengkalis Health Agency with the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) distributed 2,600 masks to the public around the area affected by the haze.

A joint team of personnel from the Indonesian Military (TNI), National Police, Manggala Agni, BPBD, and locals continuously strived to overcome the land and forest fire. Bengkalis BPBD head Tajul Moedris said that the team thus far rushed to extinguish the fire through the land in three areas of Rupat sub-district.

A total of 100 personnel of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) were deployed to Rupat island to put out the fire. “We have adequate personnel, but we currently need help on fire suppression from the air,” Tajul noted.

ANTARA