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‘This is scary’: Jambi, Riau close schools as smog makes thousands sick

“This is scary. So far we just feel suffocated and are coughing, but we do not know how bad it will be for our respiratory health in the long run,” said Atiah, a Jambi housewife.

Jon Afrizal and Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post)
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Jambi/Pekanbaru
Wed, September 11, 2019

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‘This is scary’: Jambi, Riau close schools as smog makes thousands sick Smog blankets Bengkong in Batam, Riau Islands, on Monday. (Antara/M. N. Kanwa)

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mog caused by forest and land fires has forced the administrations of Jambi and Riau to close all schools this week following reports that the air quality had fallen to “unhealthy” and “dangerous” levels.

“We expect people not to engage in many outdoor activities. If you have to, please protect yourself with respirator masks,” Jambi Mayor Syarif Fasha said on Tuesday.

He said kindergartens and preschools would be shut from Monday until Friday and elementary schools and junior high school were closed at least until Wednesday.

“Although the schools are closed, we expect teachers to give their students tasks, so that they do not fall behind in their studies,” he said, adding that he hoped the air quality in Jambi would improve soon.

In Riau’s capital of Pekanbaru, the administration closed schools from kindergarten level to high school on Tuesday. Pekanbaru Education Agency head Abdul Jamal instructed school principals to cancel all school activities until Wednesday. Classes would resume on Thursday if the haze had diminished by then, he said.

Several regions of Riau took similar action, namely Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir, Rokan Hulu, Siak and Dumai.

The Dumai administration instructed school principals to send students of all levels home on Tuesday after air quality index readings there reached levels categorized as "hazardous".

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