Haze starts to disrupt flights and threatens human health

Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 24 Jun 09;

Smoke from forest and land fires has again blanketed most parts of Riau province, disrupting flight schedules and affecting the quality of human health, local officials said Tuesday.

Haze led to the closure of the Pinang Kapai airport in Dumai city on Monday due to poor visibility there, leaving at least five flights canceled.

Airport head Edi Supiatnadi said since the last two days a number of flights from and to the town were disrupted because of the smoke.

He said a Pelita Air plane serving the Jakarta-Pekanbaru-Dumai-Singapura route failed to land at the Pinang Kapai airport Tuesday morning as the visibility was less than 1000 meters.

"From Pekanbaru, the plane directly continued flying to Singapore. The airport would be reopened if the visibility was over 1000 meters."

A day earlier, he added, haze canceled at least five flight schedules from and to Pinang Kampai.

"Yesterday *Monday* the airport was closed for around six hours and all flights were rerouted to Pekanbaru."

The smoke also increased the cases of acute respiratory problems (ISPA) in several regions across the affected province.

Rokan Hilir health office head Muhammad Junaidi Saleh said the ISPA cases increased to 1,208 in April and 1,214 in May in his regency.

"During the normal conditions, an average of only 350 ISPA patients visit health centers for treatment," he added.

Junaidi said most cases of ISPA were recorded at Bangko subdistrict, which has been hit hard by haze.

"Data on the number of ISPA patients for this month is not yet collected. It is expected to continue increasing because smoke in June is thicker than the previous two months."

A similar increase of ISPA cases was also reported in Dumai.

Senior Dumai health official Marjoko said such an increase was recorded almost every week.

The regency worst-affected by haze in Riau was Rokan Hilir, where fires destroyed more than 4,000 hectares of forest and land areas.

Rokan Hilir forestry office head Tugiman Marto said forest fires extensively spread to Rantaubais in Tanah Putih subdistrict for the last three days, destroying almost 2,000 hectares of land.

"Currently all fire-fighting forces numbering 40 personnel are concentrated in Rantaubais to control the blazes."

Data from the Satellite National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), released by Pekanbaru's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), showed at least 45 hot spots spreading in nine regencies across Riau on Tuesday, mostly in Palalawan (18), Rokan Hilir (10), Kampar (5), Siak (4) and Benkalis (3).

According to Pekanbaru's BMKG weather analyst Warih, the number of hot spots decreased Tuesday from 111 a day.

However, he warned the current dry season would worsen forest fires in the province next month due to a lack of rainfall.

Thick Smoke Chokes Riau As Illegal Fires Keep Raging
Nurfika Osman, Jakarta Globe 23 Jun 09;

Breakfast in Riau and other parts of Sumatra usually comes with a side of thick haze these days as swaths of jungle upwind are illegally burned to clear land, officials said on Tuesday.

Arditama, an analyst at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) in Pekanbaru, said morning smoke was hampering traffic in the provincial capital.

“People avoid traveling in the morning as the haze is so thick and produces a strong smell,” he said.

Arditama said the haze had greatly reduced visibility for commuters on their way to work, though it usually dissipated by noon.

“Visibility is only about one kilometer in the morning, but it gradually improves to six kilometers in the afternoon,” he said.

Despite low visibility in the morning, air traffic in the region was not disrupted on Tuesday. Air services to and from two airports in Riau — Pekanbaru and Dumai — were disrupted for several hours on Monday after thick haze reduced visibility to dangerous levels.

“Haze also affected neighboring North Sumatra as the wind blows toward that province,” Arditama said. “And I am afraid the haze will also affect neighboring Malaysia over the next couple of days.”

The local meteorology office on Tuesday detected 35 so-called hot spots, satellite indicators used to monitor forest fires, in wooded and plantation areas in the province. One district alone, Rokan Hilir, had nine hot spots, while the districts of Rokan Hulu, Siak and Bengkalis, each had six.

In satellite images, hot spots measure about one square kilometer and indicate a much higher temperature than the surrounding area. The number of hot spots in Riau accounted for more than a third of the total of 95 detected across Sumatra Island.

On Monday, the agency detected 45 hot spots in Riau, 18 of them in the district of Pelalawan, Arditama said.

The haze, mostly blamed on forest fires, has become an annual fixture at the end of the rainy season, when farmers and plantation companies clear land for new crops. Although the practice has been banned, enforcement has been lax with officials citing lack of funding and manpower for proper enforcement.

Indonesia is often criticized by environmental nongovernmental organizations for failing to prosecute those who illegally clear land with fires. Watchdog groups have pointed to large plantation companies as the biggest offenders.

Malaysia has offered to help fight the forest fires, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said on Monday that his office has yet to receive official notification of the offer.

Haze has become an annual event since 1990s, blanketing the sky in neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam and Thailand and causing serious traffic and health problems.

Air quality in several areas remains at moderate level
New Straits Times 23 Jun 09;

KUALA LUMPUR, Tue: THE air quality in several areas in the country remained at the moderate level although the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in other areas had increased.
As at 11am today, the Department of Environment (DOE) website's reported that 26 areas out of the 50 being monitored for their air quality level recorded a moderate API reading, while the air quality in the rest of the areas was reported as healthy.

Among the areas that recorded higher API reading were Kuala Selangor, Selangor at 80 from 66 recorded yesterday; Port Klang, Selangor (76); and Pasir Gudang, Johor (74).

Areas that recorded a moderate reading included Seberang Jaya Dua (73); Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan (71); Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (72); Batu Muda, Kuala Lumpur (71); Nilai, Negri Sembilan (70); Shah Alam, Selangor (69); Kampung Air Putih, Taiping, Perak (65); Bukit Rambai, Malacca (63); and Bintulu, Sarawak (62).

The API reading are categorised as: 0-50 (good), 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy) and above 300 (hazardous).
Meanwhile, haze triggered by forest and plantation fires has continued to cover Pekanbaru, Riau Province's capital, over the past one month, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.

The haze made the sky cloudy but it was not a sign that it would rain while visibility had dropped.

A number of Pekanbaru residents complained that the haze was affecting their health.

MQ Rudi, a local inhabitant, said he started to suffer from throat irritation and respiratory problem.

"Haze lingers on every day, and it gets worse in the evening and morning, when the haze produces a strong smell," he said.

However, the haze did not affect flights Pekanbaru's Sultan Syarif Kasim II airport on Tuesday morning, as visibility was more than 2km, according to the airport's duty manager, Ibnu Hasan.

"We can indeed see haze in the air but it's rather thin, and doesn't affect flights," Ibnu Hasan said.

Based on the latest monitoring of NOAA 18 Satellite, some 45 hot spots of forest and plantations fires were detected in several districts in Riau Province, according to information of the local meteorological, climatology and geophysics office.

The hot spots were detected in Pelalawan Districts (18 hot spots), in Rokan Hilir District (10), Kampar (5), Siak (4), Bengkalis (3), Indragiri Hulu (2), Rokan Hulu (1), Kuatan Singingi (1), and Dumai city (1).

On Monday, two airports in Riau Province were closed due to haze coming from plantation and forest fires.

The two haze-affected airports were Sultan Syarif Kasim (SSK) II Airport in Pekanbaru and Pinang Kampai airport in Dumai.

"We have to close the airport for 90 minutes because the visibility has dropped to only 500 meters," Taslim, traffic supervisor of the Pekanbaru SSK II airport, told ANTARA on Monday.

The minimum visibility required for the flight safety is 1,000 meters, and if the visibility is below the figure, the airport has to be closed, according to Taslim. - BERNAMA