Six Indonesian provinces, located on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, have issued forest fire alerts, an official said today.

Forest fires have broken out in parts of Sumatra and Borneo, said Sutopo Nugroho, spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

Officials fear a repeat of last year’s catastrophic blazes which cost the country US$16 billion and caused severe air pollution which also affected neighbouring countries.

“September is the middle of the dry season when incidents of forest fires are expected to be at their peak,” Sutopo said.

“The emergency alert status means it is easier for BNPB to mobilise its resources,” he said.

Sutopo said the agency had sent eight helicopters, two water-carrying aircraft and two cloud-seeding aircraft to Sumatra and Borneo.

In Riau on Sumatra, firefighters have extinguished fires covering nearly 3,000 hectares of forest, according to the spokesperson.

At least 79 people had been arrested for allegedly starting forest fires this year, he added.

Forest fires are an annual hazard in Indonesia and the resulting haze often affects neighbouring Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, driving air pollution to hazardous levels.

Last year’s fires ravaged 2.6 million hectares of forest and farmland across the Indonesian archipelago from June to October.

Haze pollution caused by the fires also left more than 500,000 people sick, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

- dpa