Spreading haze plagues traffic, health
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Medan
The choking haze from forest fires on Sumatra island has spread to more areas on Sunday, including Medan and Pontianak, threatening public health and disrupting transportation.
In Medan, the haze blanketing the city brought visibility down to less than 1,500 meters, far from the safety level for airplanes of 5,000 meters, thus increasing the risk of accidents.
Haze also disrupted public activities, as residents complained of eye irritation and stayed indoors for the most part.
The head of the Medan Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, Firman, said strong winds had blown the haze from forest fires in the neighboring province of Riau.
"Last week, the winds blew beyond 30 knots per hour in an easterly direction, which is why Malaysia was affected. Today, the winds from Riau have come more in a northerly direction pushing the smoke toward Medan," Firman told The Jakarta Post at his office.
He added that the smoke on Sunday was at an alarming level, because aside from public health, it also disrupted air transportation, which requires visibility of around 5,000 meters to 8,000 meters.
"This morning, I received a report that vertical visibility from the air to the runway was only around 300 meters. That is dangerous," he explained.
However, Polonia airport chief Col. Adi Supranto said there had been no delays in the flight schedules, with a total of 150 arriving and departing flights.
Several airplanes, however, had their lights on when taking off.
On the street, people complained about the choking haze.
"My eyes are very sore and I can't breathe very well," said Rosmawati, who was riding a motorcycle on Sunday morning.
Firman suggested that people stay indoors for safety reasons. Breathing too much of the smoke can be dangerous due to the carbon monoxide content.
"But don't worry too much because the haze won't last long. There will be rains in the upcoming months, although not evenly," he reassured people.
Meanwhile, Antara reported that the thick haze had blanketed Pontianak since Saturday morning, prompting many people to wear masks or scarves over their faces.
Many others, however, were not taking any precautionary measures, saying that they had gotten used to the annual occurrence.
The West Kalimantan Environmental Impact Control Agency, meanwhile, asked residents to wear masks. The agency has forecast that there would be only 15 days of rain this month in the province, and that would not be sufficient in clearing the air and dowsing all the hot spots.
Forest fires has become an annual occurrence in the past few years as farmers, plantation owners and miners have developed a habit of burning large swathes of forest to clear land.
This year, the areas hardest hit by such fires were reportedly located in the Padang Lawas forest near Lake Toba in North Sumatra. In Riau, hot spots have mostly been detected in and around the Rokan Hulu region.
Meanwhile in Rokan Hilir regency in Riau, forest fires in the past 10 days have spread and are currently burning areas of scrub brush, dangerously close to oil wells and pipes, which one official warned could explode.
The head of Bagan Siapi-api Forestry Agency Indra Putramayana said that the flames were getting bigger along the roads leading to North Sumatra near the oil field managed and operated by PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia.
So far, the total number of hotspots in Rokan Hilir was reported to be 267, increasing from a total of 200 hot spots on Friday.
"We have discovered a fire at an oil well. But it's difficult to extinguish it completely with the combination of a huge blaze, hard wind and dry land, as well as limited equipment and human resources," Indra said, while adding that a team of around 100 firemen from local, provincial and neighboring regencies had been working to extinguish the fire, but to no avail.
He suggested that the government step up efforts create artificial rain, and also urged the government and Caltex to assist the firefighters in putting out the fires.