Inp.polri.go.id - Pekanbaru. The Riau Regional Police has arrested 34 people and investigated 35 cases in connection to forest and land fires during the period from January to September 2023.
"As many as 11 supects are being investigated by Rokan Hilir Police," said Assistant Superintendent Andrie Setiawan, the Head of Sub-Directorate of Specific Crimes at the Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the Riau Regional Police, on Wednesday (4/10/23).
The arrests were separately done by the Indragiri Sub=regional Hilir Police, the Dumai sub-regional Police, the Sub-regional Police, the Kuansing Sub-regional, the Pekanbaru City Police, the Rokan Hulu Sub-regional Police and the Pelalawan Sub-regional Police.
While several case files have been forwarded to the prosecutor's office, no corporate cases have been identified thus far.
In a related development, Edy Afrizal, the Head of the Riau Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), provided an update on the current state of land fires in the region. Despite ongoing incidents in various areas, the forest and land fires in Riau have not given rise to smog-related issues.
He said that that smog affecting areas as far as Pekanbaru has emanated from South Sumatra. The Riau forest and land fires have been extinguished.
According to Edy, the total land area affected by fires in the Riau Province during 2023 amounts to 1,906 hectares up to September 30th.
(mg/as/hn/nm)
