LAHAD DATU, April 13 — Forest fire cases in some areas of the country have begun to decrease as the dry spell comes to an end.
Fire and Rescue Department deputy director-general (Operations) Datuk Soiman Jahid said rainfall had also helped ease the situation in several of the affected areas.
“The number of forest fires, especially in the peatlands have begun to drop as well as in terms of the area affected,” he said when met at the launch of the POIC Emergency Mutual Aid (PEMA) by Sabah Industrial Development Assistant Minister Datuk Bolkiah Ismail at the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) here, today.
He said last week, fires still occurred in some areas in Pahang, Kedah and the Binsuluk Forest Reserve in Beaufort.
Soiman said, however, the situation was still being monitored with the cooperation of the Meteorology and Environment departments.
He said cloud seeding was still being carried out by the two departments in areas which were still dry, such as Temerloh and Jerantut in Pahang.
In Sabah, forest fires in Binsuluk, covering 200 hectares of land, and Bongawan (300 hectares) prompted a large scale operation by the Fire and Rescue Department, including the use helicopters. — Bernama
