Govt to anticipate forest fires, smog

JAKARTA: The government is allocating up to Rp 144 billion (US$15.8 million) this year to deal with the forest fires and smog that have seen neighboring countries denounced Indonesia over.

The government said Thursday that governors and regents would be prepared to deal with the man-made disasters to reach the goal of zero hot spots this year, Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban said at the presidential office.

"We have less than 100 hot spots now across Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Riau, Jambi and North Sumatra. Last year there were thousands," he said after a meeting with several ministers and the governors of eight fire-prone regions.