T

hick haze has disrupted flights in Sumatra due to a lack of visibility.

Several flights were canceled on Thursday at Minangkabau International Airport (BIM) in Ketaping, Padang, West Sumatra.

The general manager for state-run airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura II, Rian Hadihito, said three Citilink flights had been canceled as visibility at BIM dropped to 700 meters, while Garuda Indonesia delayed a flight from Jakarta to BIM.

'€œFlights early in the morning landed and departed as normal, but they were disrupted from 9 a.m. local time as visibility went down to 700 meters. At 2:20 p.m., the flight schedule returned to normal as visibility increased to 1,000 meters,'€ Rian told The Jakarta Post.

Besides Minangkabau airport, all flight arrivals and departures at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, were canceled, Antara reported on Thursday

Separately, Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan confirmed the cancelation of the flights, which included both domestic and international routes, due to the lack of visibility because of the haze.

'€œWe won'€™t jeopardize people'€™s safety,'€ he said on the sidelines of an event at the Vice Presidential Office on Thursday, adding that he had urged local administrations to provide travel alternatives for the public.

Mangindaan added that the government would continue to ground flights if the haze posed a threat to safety.

The West Sumatra administration has issued an emergency haze alert due to the continuing density of the haze originating from neighboring Riau province.

At least eight of the 19 cities and regencies in West Sumatra have been affected by the haze, which has restricted visibility to less than 800 meters.

West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Yazid Fadli said the emergency alert, which the administration issued on Wednesday, would remain in place until further notice.

'€œWe have told each city and regency to set up emergency response posts, distribute masks, monitor air quality every day and instruct schools to close if conditions become a health hazard,'€ Yazid said.

He added that the BPBD had run out of masks, while all those sold privately had sold out. The BPBD is currently getting more supplies, but a lot of parties need to be involved in replenishing the masks.

'€œ[West Sumatra] Governor Irwan Prayitno has verbally complained to the Riau governor and is due to send him a formal letter,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, the police in Jambi are holding three people on suspicion of setting fires in the People'€™s Forest Park (Tahura), located in Muaro Jambi regency. They are currently being detained at Jambi Police headquarters.

Jambi Police chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Almansyah said the three suspects had been identified as Nofri, 39, a heavy vehicle operator from Kota Baru, Jambi city; Harjo Tamin, 63, a farmer, also from Kota Baru; and Sutrisno, 30, a farmer from Muara Sabak.

Almansyah said the three men had been arrested at the park on Tuesday by a joint team comprising personnel from the Jambi Police, Muaro Jambi Police and the local Forestry Agency. Police seized evidence in the form of an excavator and chain saws.

'€œThe three men were apprehended in Tanjung village, Kumpeh Ilir district, Muaro Jambi, as they were clearing a 12-hectare plot within the Muarojambi Tahura,'€ Almansyah said on Wednesday.

The suspects allegedly felled trees with the chain saws and later burned them, while the heavy machinery was used to dig trenches.

Ina Parlina contributed from Jakarta