Ria Ricis Describes the Situation Regarding Forest and Land Fires in Maluku: ‘It’s a Reality’

Ria Ricis has drawn attention to the forest and land fires (karhutla) occurring in Maluku. She said she had seen the burnt forest areas first-hand whilst travelling through the region.

She also urged the public to continue monitoring developments regarding the forest and land fires and to show their support by sending aid to those affected.

“Yesterday, whilst I was on a trip to Maluku, I posted a video on my Instagram Story; there were several areas of forest that had indeed been set alight, and it was clear that there were people keeping watch over them, and it was quite clear; I even managed to record it,” said Ria Ricis, as reported by detikHot on Tuesday (20/10).

“So, for everyone out there, these forest and land fires are very real; they are indeed happening – it’s not just social media posts, no. It’s very real,” she emphasised.

“We can all help by praying as much as we can, sending as much aid as possible, and hoping for rain to fall soon; we must pray as much as we can and send aid to the best of our ability,” she said.

Ria Ricis’s concerns about the forest and land fires also arose amidst reports that the haze was heading towards Jakarta. This situation has the potential to affect air quality and public health, particularly that of children and vulnerable groups.

“If I’m worried, I’m obviously very worried. Of course, it’s not just us who are worried; I’m sure our friends out there are too,” she concluded.

According to the Forest and Land Fire Management Information Dashboard of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) as of Monday (19 October), there are still 10,934 hotspots and 236 active fires across six Indonesian provinces.

These six provinces are Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.

Meanwhile, a number of regions in Indonesia are still shrouded in smoke from forest and land fires. According to the BMKG’s monitoring via Himawari satellite imagery at 08:00 WIB on Monday (19 October), the smoke is now moving in a north-westerly to north-easterly direction.

Smoke from forest and land fires is still present in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, the Riau Islands, Bengkulu, the Bangka Belitung Islands, South Sumatra and Lampung.

Furthermore, smoke has also been detected in West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. Finally, smoke resulting from forest and land fires has also been observed moving across the regions of Maluku, North Maluku, South-West Papua, West Papua, Central Papua, Mountainous Papua and South Papua.