TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Office (BMKG) detected 11 hotspots indicative of forest fires along the coastal areas of Riau Province on Saturday.

The station's analyst, Putri Santy Siregar, noted in a written statement that the hotspots had wildfire of confidence interval of above 50 percent in Meranti Islands District, Rokan Hilir District, and Dumai City.

The entire region faces the Strait of Malacca and the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Singapore.

Meranti Islands had seven hotspots, while three in Rokan Hilir and one in Dumai," she remarked.

The number of hotspots in Riau continued to show a downward trend, as compared to 43 hotspots detected last Thursday.

Indonesia's Police Chief Gen. Idham Azis and Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto recently visited Riau to evaluate the readiness of local authorities to tackle forest and land fires.

President Joko Widodo’s visit to Riau a week ago was also to ensure that potential forest and land fires were handled optimally.

ANTARA