Haze covers most of Kalimantan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Haze from forest and ground fires on Monday continued to veil most parts of Kalimantan, Riau, and North Maluku.

In Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan, visibility was 500 metres, up from just two meters last week, when Governor Asmawi Agani declared an optional holiday for schools and government offices in Palangkaraya and surrounding areas.

Nevertheless, many Palangkaraya residents chose to stay at home while those carrying out outdoor activities, especially motorists, had to wear masks to avoid choking smoke.

The haze has also forced airline companies to stop flights to Palangkaraya since Aug. 26.

Many residents were reportedly leaving the city for other towns in the province or for Banjarmasin in neighboring South Kalimantan.

But even Banjarmasin suffered from thick haze early Monday. Visibility was under 100 meters until around 10 a.m. when it dissipated, possibly because of the sun's heat, the local meteorology office said.

In Pontianak, the capital of the neighboring province of West Kalimantan, visibility around 11 a.m. was between 500 meters and 1,000 meters.

"There is still a lot of burning going on around Pontianak, but I believe the bulk of the haze came from fires in the Ketapang district and in Central Kalimantan," Suwardi of the meteorology office was quoted by AFP as saying.

He said local showers had not been heavy enough to help dissipate the haze.

Pontianak Mayor Buchary Abdurachman said that he would order schools there to stop their activities if the haze thickness got worse. The schools began at 8 a.m., one hour later than its usual schedule.

Illegal loggers and farmers are blamed for the fires which they light to clear their fields for the next planting season. Based on a satellite report, there were 905 hot spots across Kalimantan.

The burning has sent smoke haze over the region almost annually since 1997. The fires have prompted neighboring Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore to call for action.

Meanwhile, the visibility in North Maluku was 500 meters, causing aircraft difficulty to land in the province capital Ternate.

The haze, which is suspected as the result of the forest fires in Kalimantan and some parts of Halmahera, would thicken during the day.