JAMBI, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Jambi deputy governor Antony Zeidra Abidin held an impromptu meeting Sunday with a number of head of agencies and related authorities under his administration to deal with the increasingly thickening fog over Jambi, caused by forest and oil palm plantation fire.

Antony, in charge of the Jambi province forest fire control and eradication team, held the emergency meeting after inspecting the fire raging in the oil palm estates in Arang-Arang on Saturday, according to a report by the Indonesian news agency, Antara.

The perpetrators must be firmly dealt with in accordance with the law, Antony said in the meeting attended by head of the Forestry Agency Gatot Moeryanto, Chief of the Healthcare Agency Dr Oscar Karim and some other relevant authorities of the local administration.

He also said that the Jambi provincial administration will file a report on any plantation company which purposely set fire on forested land.

Citing a company, PT NSP, whose forested land was on fire lasting for few days, Antony said he visited its land along with Jambi Governor H Zulkifli and police chief Brig Gen Carel Risakotta.

"I have also inspected the land where many parts of it were still ablaze after being doused, indicating that the land was intentionally set on fire for land expansion," he said.

He pointed out that the perpetrators of the fire deserved a firm punishment because practically each year Jambi became victim of thick fog which is very detrimental to human health.

The team was also called on to conduct regular patrol in the plantations, especially those most-prone to fire, and take swift and immediate action to put out fires in those areas.

The Jambi provincial administration unfortunately still lacking in adequate forest fire extinguishing equipment and facilities, and it is about time to think of improving the facilities by allocating the necessary funding in its regional budget, he said.

-- BERNAMA