Zabur Karuru Antara 17 Jun 13;
Dumai, Riau (ANTARA News) - Haze from forest fire in Sumatra has increased the number of respiratory problem cases in Dumai, Riau Province, over the past few weeks, a local office said.
In the early June 2013, the number of respiratory problems was 351 cases and increased to 393 cases now, Marjoko Santoso, the head of the Dumai health office, said here on Monday.
The increase reached around four to five percent every week and 0.8 to one percent per day, he said.
He urged Dumai residents particularly children, pregnant women, senior citizens and asthma patients, to stay indoor when the city is being covered by haze.
The Dumai health office has distributed 25,000 face masks to people on streets.
Some 138 hot spots from forest fire were detected across Sumatra Island, an increase from 83 hot spots on the previous day.
In Batam, the hot spots from plantation and forest fires produced haze that reduced the visibility to 1,000-1,500 meters, Head of the Hang Nadim meteorological, climatology and geophysics agency (BMKG) Philip Mustamu said here on Monday.
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Haze from forest, peatland fires disrupts flights
Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 18 Jun 13;
Haze from forest and peatland fires in Riau province has once more covered areas such as Bengkalis, Dumai and Pekanbaru, disrupting flight schedules.
In Dumai municipality, flight schedules have been disputed at Pinang Kampai Airport.
“Four flight schedules of Pelita Air and Sky Aviation were delayed due to thick haze hampering visibility, which was at between 500 and 800 meters, posing a risk for flights,” said the airport’s technical unit head Catur Hargowo on Monday.
He added the flight delays occurred on June 14 and June 16. On Friday, a Pelita Air plane, chartered by PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) and destined for Jakarta was delayed for two hours and a Sky Aviation plane destined for Pekanbaru, which was scheduled to fly at 10 a.m., was also postponed.
Dumai Health Office has distributed thousands of masks for free in response to residents’ complaints of the thick haze mixed with dust.
“We have provided 50,000 masks that will be distributed in stages. Today, we distributed 25,000 masks to residents, especially road users,” said Dumai Health Office head Marjoko Santoso, adding the masks had also been distributed to all the community health centers in Dumai.
Separately, Dumai City Forest Ranger Unit head Tengku Ismet said the haze - which covered Dumai during the weekend - originated from forest and peatland fires, or bush fires in neighboring regencies, such as Bengkalis and Rokan Hilir. “Based on field observations, Dumai is free of forest fires,” said Ismet.
Bengkalis Disaster Mitigation Agency head Dja’far Arif confirmed Bengkalis had produced the haze.
“Nearly 600 hectares of oil palm plantation and rubber plantation areas and bushes in Sepahat, Tanjung Leban and Bukit Kerikil villages in Bukit district are currently burning. Fire teams, aided by firefighters from a number of plantation companies, including local residents are making efforts to extinguish the fires,” said Dja’far.
According to him, the firefighters were facing difficulties in controlling the fire due to very strong winds and water scarcity.
The latest observation by the Pekanbaru Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) showed 115 hot spots in Riau, significant increase compared to the previous day in which only 78 hot spots were detected.
Visibility drops to 100m, flights disrupted in Riau
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Indonesia Correspondent In Jakarta
Straits Times 18 Jun 13;
VISIBILITY dropped to as low as 100m in some areas in a Sumatra district close to Singapore, as uncontrolled fires from burning oil palm plantations - mostly on peatlands - continued without respite for a second week.
Residents in Dumai in Riau province said yesterday they were resigned to the annual burnings in their province, with some pleading for officials to act promptly.
"The thick haze has been around for a week now, and there is no sign of fading," said Mr Syahrul, a resident of the Jaya Mukti area in Dumai.
"The government has not done anything to protect the people's health."
The Dumai government started to distribute masks to residents only yesterday, as it called on the public to reduce outdoor activity.
The low visibility has led to delays of several flights from the Pinang Kampai airport in Dumai on the coast of the Strait of Malacca.
In nearby Batam, Hang Nadim airport remained opened yesterday, but officials said it would be shut if visibility were to drop further. Visibility had dropped to as low as 1.5km.
"We will temporarily close the airport if the visibility drops to below 1km," said Mr Irwansyah, head of flight safety at the airport.
"So far, it is still safe. We will keep monitoring the situation."
The airport serves mostly domestic flights.
Batam's head of meteorological office, Mr Phillip Mustamu, told reporters: "We have asked the airport tower to warn pilots to be extra careful when landing. We have issued the same alert for sea transport."
A haze-related road accident was reported in Batam yesterday, involving a truck which flipped over in the Tiban area. The accident occurred due to poor visibility.
Over at Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province, however, visibility at the Sultan Syarif Qasim II airport remained good yesterday.
