Community health centers on alert from haze-hit Riau

JAKARTA (JP): Community health centers in Riau have been instructed to stay open round-the-clock in case of emergencies from the haze covering parts of the province, a health official said.

Antara reported that the latest assessment by PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia showed that the air pollution standard index in Pekanbaru was 500, compared to the normal range of zero to 50.

"This is extremely dangerous and I will recommend that students be given a holiday," said Roesmawi Rifin, the head of the health agency.

Roesmawi said the office requested 1 million masks from PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia, which usually contributes masks to residents in the event of forest fires.

A telephone operator in Pekanbaru said Friday the smog was not as severe as in 1997 when forest fires led to traffic and health hazards in several parts of Southeast Asia.

"We can still see the sun," she said.

Motorists have complained of obstructed visibility and irritated eyes.

From Palangka Raya in Central Kalimantan, the news agency reported flights were not disrupted by the smog on Friday. But a Merpati Airlines employee warned that "if rain doesn't come in a week the smog could get thicker and lead to planes arriving late".

Smog was observed every morning this week at Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangka Raya.

State Minister of Environment Panangian Siregar acknowledged on Thursday there were more than 280 hot spots in West Kalimantan.

He said the government would immediately take action against big companies if they were found burning foliage and contributing to the haze. However, he said local community members seemed to be responsible for the problem.

Longgena Ginting of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) was quoted by Reuters on Friday as saying that "Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei have to think about taking Indonesia to the International Court of Justice for the lack of its political awareness".

Walhi said evidence showed that conversion of forests into large plantations was the major contributor to forest fires.

Walhi also said hot spots would not have occurred if the government had acted by implementing its red alert warning system. However, the warning was only issued earlier this week.

The Malaysian government on Wednesday ordered its authorities to prepare for a national haze action amid fears of a repetition of the hazards from Indonesia's forest fires in 1997. (05/anr)