Forest Fire Emergency: Smoke Blankets Pontianak City

Thick smoke from forest and land fires has blanketed Pontianak, West Kalimantan, causing a dangerous decline in air quality for local residents. The city has consequently declared a state of emergency for forest and land fires. Pontianak Mayor Edi Rusdi Kamtono stated that the emergency status was established to strengthen handling and cross-sector coordination. The Pontianak city government is coordinating with the West Kalimantan provincial government, the central government, the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum, and the private sector. “We are doing this to strengthen joint handling coordination, both in fire prevention and in managing the public health impact,” Edi said on Monday. Smoke shrouds Pontianak, especially in the morning and evening. “Smoke haze has blanketed Pontianak City. Based on monitoring results from the city’s air quality measuring device in Southeast Pontianak District, air conditions last night between 9pm and 11pm Western Indonesia Time were in the unhealthy category,” Edi Kamtono said. He explained that the concentration of particulate matter during that period was above 200 micrograms per cubic metre, before dropping to a moderate category at around 8am. This condition occurs because smoke particles tend to be heavier and stay near the surface from night until morning. “This causes air quality from night until dawn to be very poor, even declared unhealthy,” he said. Mayor Edi also revealed a roughly 5 per cent increase in cases of acute respiratory infection. “For now, based on a report from the Health Office, there has been an increase of about five per cent. We will find out more about how much this condition affects ISPA sufferers,” he said. He noted that the increase in ISPA cases was based on a preliminary report from the Health Office and will still be evaluated to determine the impact of air conditions on public health. Forest fires in West Kalimantan are not only occurring in Pontianak City. Edi stated that, based on reports for the West Kalimantan region, there are 4,041 fire hotspots. Of that number, 3,560 points are at a medium level and 352 points are at a high level. He explained that the smoke haze covering Pontianak is also influenced by land fires in several surrounding districts, such as Ketapang, Kubu Raya, North Kayong, and Landak. The wind direction carries the smoke towards Pontianak City, thus affecting air quality. In the Pontianak area, he said, there are still active fire spots being extinguished, including in the Jalan Sepakat II Ujung area and several small spots in North Pontianak. “We continue to extinguish these until there are absolutely no embers left underneath,” he said. Edi urged the public not to clear land by burning. He stressed that peatlands are highly flammable during the dry season, especially as temperatures in recent days have exceeded 35 degrees Celsius. “Once peatlands catch fire, they are difficult to extinguish. It is not enough just to spray water; they must be thoroughly soaked,” he asserted. The Pontianak city government, together with relevant parties, is also investigating the burnt land. If evidence of intent is found, the perpetrators of the burning will be processed according to legal provisions. “If we find out who burned it, we will process them legally. If there is a fire, we investigate by looking at the land ownership. Landowners must be responsible; do not let it be neglected,” he concluded.