Community health centers on alert from haze-hit Riau

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)