People told to don masks as haze, pollution worsen
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The heavy rain that fell on Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Saturday failed to clear the thick haze shrouding the provincial capital, prompting the city mayor to urge the town's 500,000 residents to put on masks.
"Stop complaining to the government! Buy a mask and always wear it," Pontianak Mayor Buchary Abdurrahman told Antara on Saturday.
He also urged residents to refrain from outdoor activities.
In a sudden change of weather, Pontianak has been experiencing a heat wave of over 35 degrees Celsius over the past two weeks, with an air pollution index far exceeding the acceptable level of below 100 on the scale.
The air pollution index in Pontianak has been fluctuating between 100 and 300 on the scale, meaning air quality is "not healthy" and "very not healthy". On Saturday, the pollution index was between 128 and 175.
Despite the pollution problem, very few people have been seen wearing masks. Some have complained that the local administration did not distribute masks as has been its practice since the haze problem first emerged in the late 1990s.
The haze has become a perennial problem for several provinces in the country, particularly those living on Kalimantan and Sumatra, due to forest fires.
Last year, the mayoralty of Pontianak had to shut the airport down due to the thick haze that obscured visibility and endangered air transportation.
On Saturday, the haze also covered the airport, reducing visibility to about 400 meters, when visibility of 2,000 meters is required to ensure a safe landing or takeoff.
But the reduced visibility range did not disrupt flights to and from West Kalimantan's Subadio Airport.
Air pollution has also threatened the public's health with many suffering from respiratory problems or other diseases.
Air quality has worsened in Pontianak over the past two weeks because of an early dry season, which was supposed to start in April, coupled with the heat wave.
Haze also shrouded Pekanbaru in the Riau province and visibility worsened on Saturday, with motorists having difficulty seeing the road.
However, an official at the local Sultan Syarif Kasim Airport said that the haze had not disrupted air traffic in the area, and the airport would remain open.
Antara reported on Saturday that bush fires in the suburban areas of Pekanbaru were the main cause of thick haze in the capital city, as locals still practice the slash-and-burn method of farming.
The neighboring province of Jambi has also been blanketed in haze over the past few weeks, but the local Sultan Thaha Airport is continuing its flights.
The airport's chief operating officer, M. Sidabutar, said on Saturday that pilots were still able to see the runway with visibility ranging up to three kilometers.
In Palembang, thick smog which had been blanketing the South Sumatra capital over the past few days had begun irritating motorists' eyes and disturbing locals' health.
The condition, according to head of the province's meteorology and geophysics office Suyatim, might continue despite the possibility that the temperature could return to normal within the next two or three days.
At night, South Sumatra's temperature is measured at between 22 and 34 degrees Celsius, he said.