Haze darkens skies in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan
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)