Students head back to school as haze eases

Students head back to school as haze eases

JAKARTA (JP): Two days of rain have diminished the weeklong
thick haze shrouding Riau's provincial capital of Pekanbaru and
allowed students to return to school, Antara reported on
Thursday.

Authorities earlier in the week ordered children to remain
indoors due to possible health hazards from the haze, which is
the result of spreading forest fires and crop burnings.
Kindergarten and elementary school students who skipped school
since Monday filled school halls and classrooms on Thursday, the
news agency reported.

"Now we can freely play outside with friends... now the sky
is clear. It's boring to stay inside all the time," said one of
the children.

The Riau office of the Environmental Impact Agency said last
week that it found two companies which were burning shrubs and
trees to clear land. Police are investigating the report, agency
officials said.

Smoke from the fires, especially in Sumatra, has drifted to
neighboring Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore.

Forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan covered much of the
region with a choking haze for months in 1997 and to a lesser
extent in 1998, causing extensive health and traffic problems.

Separately, ASEAN ministers responsible for transboundary haze
pollution have decided to meet at the end of this month to assess
the regional haze situation and review the implementation of the
ASEAN regional haze plan action, an ASEAN media release said on
Thursday. The site of the meeting was not disclosed.

The regional grouping has established operational mechanisms
to monitor land and forest fires and strengthen fire-fighting
capability.

A coordinating support unit also has been established at the
ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta to facilitate the implementation of
the action plan.

Forecasts by the ASEAN specialized meteorological center
indicate that a moderate La Nina weather phenomenon may persist
until the end of 1999. Rainfall in most parts of the region is
expected to be near or above normal for the next few months.

However, many parts of the country, especially Kalimantan and
Sumatra, are currently in the dry season which usually spans from
June to October.

With the onset of dry weather, sporadic forest fires and
resultant smoke haze are likely to continue affecting the region
during the period, but the chance of widespread regional haze is
expected to be low, the statement noted. (edt)