The Jakarta Post 4 Mar 14;
The Dumai Education Agency in Riau province has allowed students to stay on vacation as bad weather caused by haze is still affecting Dumai city.
The agency’s elementary and secondary education directorate head, Misdiono, said the government had asked schools to keep students on vacation until Tuesday.
“We’re allowing schools to keep students away as Dumai is still blanketed with clouds of haze,” Misdiono said as quoted by Antara news agency.
It was expected that students could return to school on Wednesday, but the administration would first monitor the situation, he added.
Misdiono said the policy was valid for all schools starting from early childhood education programs (PAUD) to senior high schools and other educational institutions at the same level.
“We’ve prioritized this policy for PAUD students and students in the early classes [grades 1-3] of elementary school,” he added.
Misdiono said the administration’s policy was aimed at anticipating negative health impacts of the haze from land and forest fires.
He acknowledged the bad weather affecting Dumai could affect student health and cause respiratory infections.
“Hopefully, the clouds of haze will soon disappear and students can attend learning activities at schools normally, because they have to attend national and school examinations in the near future,” said Misdiono. (yln/ebf)
Riau Forest Fire Haze Disrupts Flights in Medan
Arnold Sianturi Jakarta Globe 4 Mar 14;
A construction crew works as the sun sets amid hazy conditions from fires in Riau, Indonesian, on March 1, 2014. (AFP Photo/Sutanta Aditya)
A construction crew works as the sun sets amid hazy conditions from fires in Riau, Indonesian, on March 1, 2014. (AFP Photo/Sutanta Aditya)
Medan. The haze blanketing parts of Sumatra disrupted at least 28 flights at Medan’s new Kuala Namu International Airport over the weekend and is posing a danger to public health, officials said.
“Some flights even had to land in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,” Kuala Namu duty manager Djamal Amri said on Monday. “That happened until 9 p.m. on Sunday.”
Djamal said flights had to be delayed because visibility was less than 700 meters, which made conditions too dangerous for flying.
“Flights from Aceh to Kuala Namu had to land in Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, flights from Kuala Namu bound for Pekanbaru [in Riau province] also had to be delayed because Riau is the worst-hit area covered by haze,” Djamal said, adding that the haze that blanketed the areas around the airport was worst in the morning.
Hendra Suwarta, head of Medan’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG) data and information division, said that the haze came from Riau and from Mandailing Natal and North Tapanuli districts in North Sumatra.
“The number of hot spots [in North Sumatra] was 57 out of a total of 1,052 spots in Sumatra. The condition has been made worse with the haze from Riau. The haze is also affecting public activities, including flights to and from Kuala Namu,” he said.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Sunday began using aerial firefighting methods in an effort to quell blazes that continued to burn for nearly a month in 12 districts and municipalities in Riau.
“The latest data shows that fires have spread across 7,972 hectares of land,” Riau haze emergency relief task force head Brig. Gen. Prihadi Agus Irianto said on Sunday.
