Jakarta Globe, February 24, 2014
Riau residents evacuate on June 23, 2013 as a forest fire engulfs their village in the Rokan Hulu district. (AFP Photo/Ulet Ifansasti/Greenpeace) |
Jakarta.
Some 20,000 people have reported respiratory illnesses in Riau as forest fires
and the resulting haze continued to worsen on Monday, the local health agency
reported.
“That is
the data we’ve compiled from a number of districts and municipalities since
late January to Sunday [Feb. 23],” Zainal Arifin, the head of the Riau Health
Agency, said in Pekanbaru on Monday.
Last month,
fewer than 5,000 people reported respiratory problems in Riau. Last week,
however, the figure jumped to 15,000 before surpassing 20,000 on Sunday, the
health authority reported.
“We’ve been
focusing only on patients with respiratory problems because they are the focus of the Ministry of Health,” he told Indonesian news portal Bisnis Indonesia.
Zainal
urged people in Riau to minimize their time outdoors, citing the poor air
quality, especially in the town of Dumai and in the Pelalawan and Siak
districts.
“Toddlers
and people with asthma should avoid outdoor activities,” he said. “Workers
should wear masks in anticipation of respiratory illnesses.”
Officials
with Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Pekanbaru said at least 12 flights were
delayed, canceled or rerouted because the haze had reduced visibility in the
province.
“Between 5
a.m. and 9:30 a.m. [on Monday], the visibility was only 500 meters,” airport
manager Baekuni said on Monday. “The minimum visibility for safe flights is at
least 1,000 meters.”
Affected
routes included those to and from Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Bandung,
Batam, Jakarta and Medan, on flights operated by Aviastar, Citilink, Garuda
Indonesia, Lion Air and Tigerair Mandala.
A Citilink
flight from Jakarta, which was supposed to land at Pekanbaru airport at 7:20
a.m., was diverted to Batam.
Forests in
Riau began burning again earlier this month, with officials blaming local
farmers for using the slash-and-burn method to clear land.
On Monday,
the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said 1,398 hotspots
were detected across Sumatra, with most of them concentrated in Riau.
Ahmad Agus
Widodo, an analyst with the Pekanbaru office of the BMKG, said Bangka-Belitung
and Lampung each reported one hotspot. South Sumatra reported two, Aceh five,
Jambi 24, Riau Islands 43 and North Sumatra 85.
“Most
hotspots were recorded in Riau province,” Ahmad told liputan6.com. “[NASA's]
Terra and Aqua satellites detected 1,234 fire hotspots across eight districts
and municipalities in Riau.”
He added
the figure marked a significant rise from the roughly 80 hotspots detected in
Riau on Sunday.
Ahmad said
that with the wind blowing toward the south, haze was spreading to the
neighboring provinces of Jambi and West Sumatra.
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