Kindergartens, elementary schools stop activities

Bambang Bider and Tiarma Siboro The Jakarta Post Pontianak/Jakarta

Many kindergartens and elementary schools in Central Kalimantan have temporarily suspended classes due to the thick haze that has blanketed Palangkaraya, the capital of the Central Kalimantan province.

The schools suspended activities to avoid the impact of the haze and drought that has affected the province for weeks, Antara news agency reported on Thursday.

The haze, which started shrouding a major part of Kalimantan and Sumatra last month, has raised air pollution to alarming levels, causing respiratory problems and disruption to air transportation to the two islands.

Arnold Singarimbun, a medical staff at the Doris Sylvanus General Hospital said more and more people were suffering from haze-related respiratory problems.

"So far, two children have died of respiratory problems in the hospital," he said.

Separately, the head of the Pontianak health office, Oskar Primadi, revealed that at least 2,464 people had experienced respiratory problems triggered by the air pollution over the last one month.

The atmosphere in Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan, has returned to normal, after haze enveloped it for more than a month.

The haze has gradually dispersed following three days of heavy rain that has cleared the air and has improved visibility to some 1,000 and 5,000 meters.

Nevertheless, Adiany, an official at the local environment agency, warned locals to keep on using masks outdoors even though the Standard Air Pollution Index (ISPU) which measures air quality, had reduced to 129 from 1,000.

An ISPU level of between 0 and 55 is considered optimum.

"The situation will be better in the next few days as rain is forecast to continue falling over the territory," Adiany said.

The thick haze from forest fires has also reducing visibility and badly affected local residents and those in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.

Since the great forest fires of 1997, the three countries have stepped up efforts to jointly battle forest fires with Malaysia often sending its firefighters to help their Indonesian counterparts.