Residents told to don masks as haze worsens
Residents told to don masks as haze worsens
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.