Haze subsides in Jambi province, while hotel industry claims losses

Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post/Jambi

The haze that covered Jambi province for about a week has subsided following rain on Sunday night, an official said on Monday.

Clearer skies allowed flights to resume normally on Monday, but the hotel industry stated on the same day that it had been hit by the brunt of the haze problem, and that occupancy rates had dropped within the past week.

The head of the Sultan Thaha Airport Management, M. Sidabutar, said visibility had improved to about 2,000 meters on Monday, well above the minimum visibility threshold of 1,500 meters for pilots.

A week ago, visibility had dropped to an average of between 300 and 500 meters each day in the mornings and afternoons, prompting the airport management to delay many flights.

The disrupted flights discouraged many tourists and businesspeople from traveling to Jambi, and hotel occupancy rates had consequently recorded a significant drop.

Vivi Anggraini, public relations officer at the Novotel Hotel in Jambi, said its occupancy rate had dropped to an average 20 percent in a week, compared to the usual 80 percent of 124 rooms.

"Many guests canceled their hotel bookings because of flight disruptions and because they feared they might suffer from haze- related respiratory problems," said Vivi.

About 70 percent of the hotel's guests come from Jakarta on business, while the remaining 30 percent come from Batam, Singapore and Malaysia.

The haze had also forced the hotel to cancel a few events. "We do hope that the haze problem will go away," said Vivi.

Aside from hotels, local residents found that the haze and ensuing flight disruptions had also affected newspaper deliveries in the province, with many national newspapers arriving late.

Marzuki, who lives in Jambi, said he received a national newspaper a day late, so he relied on television to follow the latest political and economic developments.

Haze has become an annual problem on Sumatra, where Jambi is located, as well as Kalimantan, and is mostly attributed to the slash-and-burn method of clearing land, which causes forest and bush fires.

Various efforts have been made by the government, with the help of those Southeast Asian countries affected by the haze, but no solution has yet been found.