Jakarta – At least 1,800 hot spots have emerged in fire-prone areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan this year with the dry weather, satellite images revealed.

They were mainly in Riau province, Sumatra, where there have been at least 1,615 forest fires in the past six months, said State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim. The resulting haze has already hit Pekanbaru, turning day into night in the Riau capital.

Many of the fires could not be curbed as firefighters could not reach them, said the minister.

"Moreover, the major problem is that most of our forests have been badly damaged. The humidity level in such forests is low, making them prone to fires," he said. But the haze was not a threat to neighbouring nations like Singapore and Malaysia yet, he said.

He said the government has taken precautions to prevent a repeat of the regional haze crisis of 1997 when forest fires destroyed about 300,000 ha. The National Disaster Management Coordinating Board has prepared a fire control programme, with his office as its information centre, he added.

Haze in 1997 spread to Singapore and Malaysia, reducing visibility to such an extent that airports were forced to close.