Thin haze to cover capital Jakarta, Sunda Straits

By Edith Hartanto

JAKARTA (JP): The National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has predicted that air quality in the capital and Sunda Straits will be affected by haze in the next two weeks due to the forest fires in Central and East Java.

However, the haze above Jakarta would be thin and the pollution might not reach a dangerous level as it would be located between 700 meters and 1,000 meters above sea level, the agency's head Sri Diharto told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

The haze above the Sunda Straits, one of the busiest waterways in the country, would hang at around 500 meters above sea level, Diharto said.

He therefore warned all aeroplanes and ships to stay alert while crossing the Sunda Straits.

"I warn all of them, especially ferris and small ships, crossing the straits to be alert to the danger," he said.

Diharto said, the gray skies above Jakarta in the past three days were an early sign of the coming haze.

"The gloomy sky in Jakarta in the past three days is not caused by the forest fires in Kalimantan or Sumatra but by forest fires in East and Central Java," he said.

Due to the prolonged drought this year, fires have ravaged thousands of hectares of forests in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java.

The fires in the thick forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan have generated dangerous pollution levels in the respective areas and neighboring countries.

Forest fires in Central and East Java have yet to significantly affect the air quality in Java but have caused the sky to turn gray.

In Central Java, reports said that the fires had destroyed 59,700 hectares of forests. Among the regencies hardest hit are Rembang, Blora, Cepu and Boyolali.

In East Java, the 5,500 hectares of forest around Baluran, have reportedly been burned.

According to Diharto, the haze is blowing to the west of Java because of the changing trade winds above Indonesia.

The new wind direction, however, is expected to blow the thick haze away from most parts of Kalimantan and Sumatra, he said.

"The haze will be blown over the Indian Ocean," Diharto said.

When asked to comment on the agency's prediction, City Councilor Affif Hamka of Commission E for welfare affairs urged the government to announce the haze problem publicly.

"Don't cover things up. It's for the people's sake. If the city's air quality is dropping and becoming a serious danger, then people must be alerted," he said.

In another related development yesterday, the head of the city administration's Environment Control and Management Agency announced that the amount of dust in the Jakarta air nowadays was nine times higher than the healthy level.

"Based on our air pollution detection control panel, the dust contained in the city's air has exceeded the safe level of 10 millimicro grams per cubic meter enacted in the gubernatorial decree No. 587/1990," said agency head Ali Rozi.

The current dust level in the city's air is 93 millimicro grams per cubic meter, he said.

"The problem is mainly due to the long dry season and the great number of development projects in certain areas here," he said.

The agency has installed 12 control stations in Jakarta to maintain a routine check on the air quality.

Ali said exceedingly high levels of dust had been detected at Senayan, Rawa Buaya, Istiqlal Mosque, Dufan, Radio Dalam and Pulogadung.

Diharto said the rainy season would start in the city in the second week of this month but heavy rain would only begin falling in December. The wet weather usually lasts until March.

"We hope with the coming rainy season, the haze will be eliminated," he said.

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