Haze welcomes Hamzah's visit

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: Haze blanketing the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin welcomed Vice President Hamzah Haz and his entourage when they arrived at Syamsuddin Noor airport on Wednesday.

The haze was thicker than in previous days despite recent rainfall.

"Indeed, the haze is thicker than in previous days," Nanang, a tower monitoring staff member at the Syamsuddin Noor Airport told The Jakarta Post.

Despite its density, however, the haze did not interfere with flight schedules to and from the airport, Nanang said.

Monitoring results showed that Wednesday's thick haze was a result of dried rice stalks being burned in northern, eastern and southern parts of Banjarmasin.

"The farmers burned the stalks to clean up the rice fields after the harvest season," he said.

During his visit to the province, Hamzah inaugurated an 18- kilometer road heading to Trisakti Seaport in Banjarmasin.

He met several religious figures and members of his United Development Party (PPP), and visited the grave of local religious figure Syekh Arsyad Al Banjary. (32/02)