Haze thick over Kalimantan

Haze thick over Kalimantan

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda

Thick haze from forest fires in Central and East Kalimantan
provinces continued to blanket some cities in Kalimantan on
Monday, but heavy downpours over the weekend helped ease the
fog in some cities in Sumatra.

In Samarinda, East Kalmantan, visibility has been reduced to
one kilometer because of the haze.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA)
satellite found 17 fires in East Kalimantan, 225 hot spots
in Central Kalimantan and 133 in South Kalimantan on Sunday.

Yusman, the head of Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) at
Termindung Airport in Samarinda predicted the thick haze in the
province would last until the end of October, when the wind's
direction in Central and South Kalimantan is expected to change.

Residents, particularly motorists, of Samarinda and Balikpapan
have had started using masks in a bid to prevent respiratory and
eye problems.

"I must keep my motorbike's lights on to avoid a possible
accident and I've had to stop several times to wash my face. It
hurts my eyes and the smell is bad," said Nurdiansyah, a
motorist.

However, the Samarinda administration said it could not
provide free masks for residents despite the growing number of
patients with respiratory ailments due to the haze.

The number of patients with respiratory illnesses reached more
than 700 this month, from last month's 400.

However, Dr. Djatmiko Wahyono of the city's health agency said
the condition remained under control.

"Free masks are only given to residents for free during
extraordinary conditions," he said. The authority would announce
extraordinary conditions existed if the number of patients with
respiratory problems reached double that of the previous month,
he said.

Djatmiko called for people to buy their own masks to prevent
possible respiratory ailments.

Meanwhile, the North Barito authority in Central Kalimantan
distributed thousands of masks to Muara Teweh residents free of
charge.

Environmental agency head Dr. Wiwiek Jarwiati said the agency
also provided free training for residents to deal with ailments
caused by haze.

Separately in Palembang, authorities announced heavy rains
around most parts of South Sumatra had put out as many as 414 hot
spots in the province, Antara reported.

Local BMG head Suyatim said the rain meant people did not need
to worry about the possibility of increasing levels of haze over
the province.

Thick haze had blanketed the province for the past three days.

The local health agency had provided about 50,000 masks to be
distributed to local residents, particularly children.