Smoke disrupts Jambi traffic

Smoke disrupts Jambi traffic

JAMBI, Jambi: Smoke coming from the burning of wood industry
waste has disrupted water and air traffic in Jambi city and its
surrounding areas.

Visibility on the Batanghari river has been cut down to 200 or
300 meters, when ideally a ship sailing along the river needs a
minimum of 1,000 meters, Jambi Port Chief Zulretmika said,
reported the Antara news agency.

All ships passing Batanghari have been told to reduce their
speed from nine to six miles per hour.

Meanwhile, an official at the Sultan Taha airport control
tower said that the thick smoke has also caused frequent
cancellations of flights coming to and departing from Jambi.

He said very often visibility around Jambi's airport is cut
down to 300 to 400 meters, making it hazardous for a Fokker 20
plane to land or take off from the airport. Ideally, a plane
needs a minimum visibility of 1 kilometer.

To remedy this, the airport has had to turn on the flight
navigation assistance system to guide the planes. (emb)