T

hick haze caused by ongoing land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan has forced local authorities on the two islands to temporarily shut down schools and delay or cancel flights on safety concerns.

In Riau, the Pekanbaru municipal administration on Wednesday decided to close down schools until Thursday in response to ever-thicker haze that has blanketed the city over the past few days.

Fuad Jabbar, a student at SMP 8 Pekanbaru state junior high school, expressed relief that students were finally sent home, saying that he had been suffering from a cough for the past week.

'€œMy nose hurts and it'€™s hard to breathe. I'€™m also suffering from an eye irritation, making it hard to concentrate,'€ he said, adding that some of his friends were suffering similar symptoms.

Pekanbaru Education Agency head Zulfadil said the decision to send local students home was necessary, as the air quality in the city had continued to drop in recent days.

'€œWe want to anticipate any negative impacts,'€ Zulfadil said, adding that the agency might extend the schools'€™ closure if the city'€™s air quality did not quickly improve.

In Kampar and Rokan Hulu regencies, a number of schools also decided on Wednesday to send their respective students early.

Pelalawan regency, meanwhile, had taken the same policy earlier on Tuesday and schools are scheduled to resume activities by Friday.

'€œWe are advising schools to give their students days off if the air quality in their respective region stays at unhealthy levels for three consecutive days,'€ explained Riau Health Agency head Andra Sjafril.

Local authorities in many parts of the country, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan, have been struggling over the past few months to extinguish massive land and forest fires triggered mainly by this year'€™s extended dry season.

Haze has also played havoc with flights at a number of airports in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

According to authorities at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, limited visibility on Wednesday forced 10 domestic and international flights to delay their arrivals at or departures from the airport, Antara news agency reported.

In North Sumatra, 11 flights were canceled from landing at or taking off from Kualanamu International Airport in Deli Serdang regency on Wednesday on similar concerns.

'€œBefore 1 p.m., 10 flights canceled their arrivals at or departures from the airport. Another flight was canceled at 3:10 p.m.,'€ Kualanamu airport duty manager Indra Lubis told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile in Central Kalimantan, Susi Air'€™s flights from and to Beringin Airport in Muara Teweh, North Barito regency, were also canceled on Wednesday because of thick haze.

'€œThe flights were canceled because the haze has been relatively thick since this morning,'€ airport officer Akhmad Sidik told Antara.

While most of the recent land and forest fires are the result of natural causes, others have been intentionally sparked by irresponsible parties.

In Jambi, the local police announced on Wednesday that they were investigating five cases of intentional land burnings in the province.

Jambi Police chief Brig. Gen. Lutfi Lubihanto said three people had been named suspects for allegedly burning 819 hectares of land in Tebo Ilir district, Tebo regency. The case, he said, was being handled by the Tebo Police.

Jon Afrizal in Jambi
contributed to the article.