Jakarta (Antara) – Head of the Jambi National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Lieutenant General Doni Monardo recalled that the land and forest fires in the Province of Jambi this year is proven to be far worse than the one in 2015 in terms of its air pollution index.

The pollution index this year, he said, is mainly worsened by the vast peatland areas experiencing fires. Astonishingly, he said that 99 percent of land and forest fires in Jambi was caused by arsonists.

"From all the lands that went ablaze, 99 percent of them were caused by arsonists. Some were intentional and some were due to negligent behavior. But 80 percent of the lands burnt eventually ended up being plantations," revealed Doni Monardo after a meeting on the Jambi forest fire disaster mitigation on Monday, September 23.

Other attempts by the BNPB saw artificial-induced rain falling over the Province of Jambi and its surrounding areas which are affected by forest fires. "Thank God a Hercules plane flew from Pekanbaru which deployed NaCl salt over Jambi. That evening, rain fell over a number of areas in Jambi," he explained.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1251625/arsonists-behind-99-percent-of-jambis-land-forest-fires-bnpb