Domestic airlines lose Rp 20 billion from haze

JAKARTA (JP): Haze from forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have caused local airlines to lose between Rp 18 billion (US$5 million) and Rp 20 billion in potential earnings from flight cancellations, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said yesterday.

Altogether, 3,372 flights had been canceled since the haze began to reduce visibility and forced airports on the two islands to close, he said.

The worst affected airports were Pontianak in West Kalimantan with 959 flight cancellations, Samarinda in East Kalimantan with 568, and Padang in West Sumatra with 358, Haryanto said during a meeting with media editors.

Haryanto was one of seven cabinet ministers briefing the media. The meeting was organized by Minister of Information R. Hartono to talk about the forest fires, the haze they caused, the resulting damage, and action taken by the government.

Merpati Nusantara Airlines also lost Rp 2.3 billion on flights that were forced to return to points of departure because visibility at destinations was severely reduced, Haryanto said.

With rain beginning to fall in Kalimantan and Sumatra, and the haze clearing slowly, some airports had begun to stay open more frequently, he said. "We hope rain will arrive faster so that flight services can return to normal," he added.

The haze had also affected ground and water transportation, especially in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya, he said.

Haryanto also said the government had issued warnings to ships sailing the Strait of Malacca to be extra cautious because visibility had been reduced to as little as 200 meters.

Severe forest and brush fires, said to be largely caused by the slash-and-burn methods used by large plantation and forestry companies to clear land, have spread choking smog that has blanketed parts of Indonesia and neighboring countries.

Haryanto said the drought had dried up some rivers in Kalimantan and Irian Jaya, cutting off remote villages, which had depended on the rivers for transportation, from the outside world.

The dried-up rivers had deprived remote villages in Irian Jaya of food that had normally been transported by boat, he said.

There have been reports that hundreds of villagers in Jayawijaya and Merauke regencies have been dying of malaria and starvation.

Although Haryanto made no particular reference to the reports, he said the only method of bringing in relief supplies to remote villages in Irian Jaya was to air-drop them by helicopter flying dangerously close to treetops. (das/emb)