Haze darkens skies in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan

JAKARTA (JP): Smoke from forest and plantation fires has begun to darken the skies over some parts of Riau in Sumatra and Kalimantan since the dry season began in July.

A slight haze also is reportedly shrouding parts of neighboring Malaysia.

In Riau's capital of Pekanbaru, reduced visibility from the haze has obstructed land traffic and disrupted flight schedules.

A Merpati Nusantara aircraft was unable to land at Simpangtiga Airport on Tuesday morning because visibility was reduced to 500 meters, Purwoko Soesilo, chief of the provincial meteorology and geophysics office, told Antara.

He said pilots required a minimum visibility of 1,000 meters for landing.

The plane was diverted to Polonia Airport in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra.

Complaints about respiratory problems have become common. "At night, the haze is very thick, causing breathing problems and sore eyes," resident Taufik said.

Haze also has disrupted marine traffic in the Strait of Malacca, according to Darminto Soetono, chief of the provincial office of the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations. "Due to the spreading forest fires, Riau has been put on an alert level."

He said forest fires hit areas of Pekanbaru, Kampar, Bengkalis, Indragiri Hulu and Dumai.

A team has been dispatched to Bengkalis and Kampar regencies to locate and map the hot spots. The team also will try to identify the culprits responsible for the fire.

Darminto said the team found that deliberate burning activities occurred on plots belonging to forestry company PT Yatim Jaya Perkasa in Bengkalis. Police are questioning several suspects.

He said a heat detector using the NOA satellite in Riau located 167 hot spots on July 20, only eight the following day and 543 the day after.

On July 27 there were 256 hot spots, but on Aug. 2 the number dropped to 106, Darminto said.

Officials say the forest fires were started by locals clearing their land.

Experts warn that forest fires pose a particular threat in peat lands because such fires could easily ignite the soil's peat layers, already arid during the dry season.

In Central Kalimantan, the smoke has begun to affect visibility, Sugiarto of the provincial meteorology office in Palangkaraya said.

"Visibility has on average been at about 80 percent since July 28," Sugiarto was quoted as saying by AFP on Tuesday.

Forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan spread thick haze to neighboring Malaysia and Singapore for months in 1997, and to a lesser extent in 1998.

The fires destroyed more than 1.7 million hectares of forest and scrubland in Kalimantan and western Sumatra in 1997. (edt)