Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar holds up a placard given to companies that have shown progress in reducing the amount of plastic they use and produce during a virtual awarding ceremony in Jakarta (Photo courtesy of KLHK) Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesian officials have confirmed that air quality in areas experiencing forest and peatland fires in many localities of the country has improved over the past week.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar told the press on October 6 that despite fluctuations, air quality in the regions where the peat and forest fires were found was getting better.
According to her, they are working to handle the forest and land fires in Borneo and Sumatra islands as well as possible. Rain is aiding the process, she went on, adding that Indonesia is also making efforts to deploy cloud seeding.
Forest and peat fires are an annual problem in Indonesia's dry season. There are more than 1,900 hot spots recorded in Sumatra, mostly in South Sumatra province, according to the data from Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency. On October 2, the local government of South Sumatra asked residents to work from home and schools to go online amid a blanket of haze./.
