Pekanbaru, Riau (Antara) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has allocated Rp300 billion to overcome smog problems in the country in 2014. "The budget will be used according to the needs," BNPB chief Syamsul Maarif stated in the e-mail sent by BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho received by Antara here on Friday. Syamsul stated that the key to overcome land and forest fires is law enforcement, information campaign and massive and total fire extinguishing efforts. Massive handling through the three operations must be done and, based on past experience, it has been effective "as proven by the fact that the smog that spread to Malaysian and Singapore last year, was overcome within 1-2 weeks," he elaborated. To support the processes, a total of 1,524 military and police personnel have been prepared to conduct operations on land, water bombing and weather modification, he added. "Indeed the operations are expensive, worth up to Rp100.38 billion. Efforts certainly will be more efficient and effectively through law enforcement and information campaign as preventive measures," he explained. Syamsul meanwhile added that 99 percent of smog in various regions in Indonesia was caused by land and forest fires meaning there were perpetrators behind them. "Unless action is taken against them the incident will continue to occur. Farming by land burning indeed exists in Sumatra and Kalimantan but the most important thing is control," he pointed out. He noted that in Riau Province, where peat land could reach up to 10 meter in thickness, fire could be very difficult to put out. Syamsul explained that in 2013 the police had named 23 suspects in Riau and 16 others in Kalimantan in connection with fires in the regions. "Indeed economic, social and cultural factors have been the main reasons behind the fires," he added. He pointed out that the issue had been discussed at a cabinet meeting led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (*)


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