TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Haze blankets cities in Kalimantan, Sumatra as fires rage
Thick haze has blanketed parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan as fires continue to rage, in part due to El Niño, and affected regions have started imposing measures to anticipate related health impacts, including a mask mandate for schools.
Change Size
A firefighter battles a forest fire on Sept. 16, 2019 in Pekanbaru, Riau. (AFP/Wahyudi)
F
ires raging across forests on Sumatra and Kalimantan during this year’s prolonged El Niño have covered major cities in the regions with haze, raising concerns that the smoke could cross international borders.
In South Kalimantan, the situation worsened to the point that thick haze blanketed Syamsudin Noor International Airport in Banjarmasin and at least six flights due to depart on Friday morning had to be rescheduled.
“We delayed the flights scheduled between 6 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. because visibility was limited to only around 100 meters,” airport spokesman Iwan Risdianto said on Friday, as quoted by Antara.
Of the six rescheduled flights, four were headed to Jakarta, one to Surabaya and one to Balikpapan.
In Central Kalimantan’s provincial capital, the Palangkaraya administration handed out masks to schoolchildren for their health, as the city’s air quality had declined over the past few days.
“Recently, every morning, we are blanketed by haze from peatland and forest fires. We also see a lot of schoolchildren who are not wearing face masks,” Berlianto, head of the city’s Pahandut district, said on Tuesday, Antara reported.
In southeastern Sumatra, the environmental agency of the provincial capital Jambi said air quality in the city from Monday to Wednesday was rated “unhealthy” due to haze from wildfires burning in surrounding regencies.
