Jakarta, Nov 4 (Antara) - Haze emanating from forest fires and hotspots
continues to shroud various parts of Kalimantan and Sumatra, hindering
the day-to-day activities of the local residents and flight schedules.
On Tuesday, thick smog blanketed Syamsudin Noor Airport of Banjarmasin,
South Kalimantan, leading to delays of five flights to Balikpapan,
Surabaya, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta.
"Five flights were delayed for about 30 minutes to an hour from their
scheduled departure time," Airport Service Section Head of PT Angkasa
Pura I airport operator Heru Widiatmo stated in Banjarbaru, South
Kalimantan, on Tuesday.
The haze also covered regions in Jambi and South Sumatra and disrupted flights from Palembang on Monday.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the smoke
arising from hotspots still engulfed various regions in Indonesia, such
as South Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Based on satellite data on Monday, South Sumatra still had 37 hotspots,
Central Kalimantan (125), South Kalimantan (29), and East Kalimantan
(20).
"It seems that the annual land and forest fires have not yet served as a
lesson for the people to fully prevent the disaster," Sutopo Purwo
Nugroho, the head of the Information Center and Public Relations of
BNPB, affirmed on Monday.
He noted that the satellite detected the spread of haze in the Ogan
Komering Ilir (OKI) region of Palembang (South Sumatra) and Jambi. The
winds blew from the south towards the north-northwestern directions.
In South Kalimantan, five flights faced delays in their departure
schedules. According to the local airport operator official Heru
Widiatmo, visibility at the airport at 6 a.m. local time, on Tuesday,
was still normal at 800 meters, but thirty minutes later, the visibility
reduced further.
"Visibility
was only about 300 meters at 6:45 a.m. local time, thereby causing
flights to be delayed as pilots chose not to operate them," Sutopo
remarked.
On Monday, Banjarbaru and Banjarmasin were engulfed in thick haze,
which caused breathing problems among the residents in the two South
Kalimantan cities.
Dark smoke filled nearly all the streets in the two cities after the conditions remained normal for almost two weeks.
"At 6 a.m. local time, the air is fresh, but 30 minutes later, thick
smoke blew across the city," Wita, a mother from northern Banjarbaru,
claimed.
The visibility was limited, and the odor was so strong that the passersby and motorists had to wear masks, Wita stated.
The smoke originated from several bush fires not far from the city. A
fairly large fire ravaged tens of hectares of open bush land in that
area. The fire, which spread rapidly, completely ravaged a public health
center in Liang Anggang.
In the nearby provincial city of Banjarmasin, the people were already
complaining about the inconvenience caused by the thick smoke over the
past several days, and on Monday, the condition deteriorated as thicker
smoke rolled into the city.
Thick haze also covered the Buntok City of South Barito District in
Central Kalimantan province, over the past two days. The haze hindered
daily activities of the locals and motorists as it reduced visibility on
various roads in the district.
Head of the Health Care Service of South Barito District Djulita K.
Palar called on the residents to reduce their outdoor activities and to
wear masks if they had to venture out.
"If the residents experience symptoms of respiratory tract diseases,
then they should visit the health care center to check their health,"
Palar emphasized.
Besides
affecting the regions in South and Central Kalimantan, the haze has
also engulfed areas in South Sumatra and Jambi provinces.
Several
local activists in Palembang, South Sumatra, have complained about the
inconvenience and disturbances caused due to the haze. It is believed
that the haze spread in the province during the drought in September,
declined in October, but early this month, it resurfaced.
"Smoke
covered the Palembang City and the adjoining areas. It happened to
decrease in October, but now, it is blanketing South Sumatra again,"
environmental activist Dedek Chaniago noted in Palembang on Monday.
On
Monday morning, several airlines were forced to delay the departure of
their flights from Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport of Palembang. Due
to limited visibility, the nation's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and
Lion Air each delayed two flights, and CitiLink had to delay one of its
flights to Jakarta.
"One
could see only as far as 200 meters ahead at 6 a.m. local time," an
airport official remarked, adding that "no takeoff occurred until 8:30
a.m. local time."
Bad weather coupled with thick clouds have
frequently affected flights in Palembang over the past three months, he
pointed out.
The
forest fires in 300 locations have ravaged over 10 thousand hectares of
bush lands in seven regencies in the province.
Some farmers had unlawfully started bushfires in order to clear the land for farming.
In Jambi province, thick haze has shrouded the city over the past two
days. In the past week, the clouds dissipated as the rains fell.
Forest Protection Head of Jambi's Forest Service Bestari stated on
Monday that the NOAA satellite images showed only 13 hotspots in various
districts in Jambi. However, he claimed to have no knowledge about the
origin of the haze.
"The satellite detected 13 hotspots in Jambi: four in Tebo District,
three in Sarolangung, two in West Tanjung Jabung, and one hotspot each
in East Tanjung Jabung, Batanghari, Bungo, and Merangin," he
revealed.
In the meantime, the number of hotspots detected in
South Sumatra reached 169, Lampung province (29), and Riau province
(6)," noted Bestari.
According to Sutopo of the BNPB, the number of hotspots in South
Sumatra in October stood at 3,282, of which 2,420 or 74 percent were in
the OKI District.
"As hotspots are still surfacing, the government, in this case the
BNPB, continues to make efforts to put out the forest fires," Sutopo
remarked.
He said that BNPB head Syamusl Maarif had urged the regional and
central government officials to assist in extinguishing the forest
fires.
He had earlier stated that the efforts should be directed at activating
the land task force, and it should implement law enforcement measures
to cope with the forest fires.
"The BNPB is still mobilizing helicopters and other planes to conduct
weather modification and produce artificial rain to put out the fires.
The government has set aside more than Rp330 billion for that purpose,"
Sutopo added.
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(T.A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 04-11-2014 14:58 |
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