Plane carrying ministers lands safely in thick haze
Plane carrying ministers lands safely in thick haze
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An Air Force plane carrying Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Jusuf Kalla and several other ministers landed safely on
Saturday in the Central Kalimantan capital of Palangkaraya
despite the thick haze caused by forest fires.
The Hercules was the first plane to land at the Tjilik Riwut
Airport since it was closed on Aug. 26 due to the thick smoke
blanketing the city and neighboring areas.
"For almost 15 minutes we flew around over the airport while
asking for help from the tower to locate the runway, because
visibility was only 300 meters," the aircraft's 39-year-old
pilot, Lt. Col. Jeffri, was quoted by Antara as saying.
The Hercules A-1314 landed safely at about 3 p.m.
Jeffri said that planes should only fly with a visibility of
at least 1,500 meters, but that with his 4,000 hours of flight
time and help from the tower Saturday's high-risk landing was
possible.
The pilot said almost all of the 40 passengers, including
Kalla, Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi, State Minister for the
Environment Nabiel Makarim and Minister of Regional
Infrastructure and Resettlement Sunarno, looked "pale" as they
exited the plane.
Also traveling with Kalla were foreign diplomats and the heads
of several United Nations agencies based in Jakarta.
Hamid Awaluddin, a member of Kalla's staff, said the pilot
should be commended for the successful landing at the airport,
where since Aug. 26 all flights had been canceled because of the
choking haze.
A thick haze has blanketed Central Kalimantan and neighboring
provinces for months, forcing the cancellation of flights to and
from local airports.
The choking smoke has caused serious respiratory problems,
skin irritations and other illnesses among locals. Singapore and
Malaysia have also been affected by the haze, caused by forest
and ground fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra.
Kalla, speaking after a meeting with Central Kalimantan
Governor Aswawi Agani, asked all sides to join forces to
extinguish the forest fires to prevent them from spreading to
other parts of the province.
The senior minister said the government was continuing efforts
to deal with the forest fires, but stressed that public support
was badly needed.