INDONESIA: Haze Problems Continue in Central Kalimantan
Copyright 2001 BERNAMA (Malaysian National News Agency)
September 03, 2001
JAKARTA, Sept 3 (Oana-Xinhua) -- Haze from forest fires in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province has shown no signs of abating, prompting the provincial government to call on residents to wear face masks, the Jakarta Post reported Monday.
Haze levels dropped slightly in the main city of Palangkaraya, capital of the province, after rain fell on Friday and Saturday but the haze monitor still showed that the level was hazardous to health. In the worst hit areas, visibility was about 100 meters. The haze, which occurs every year comes from forest fires caused mainly by land clearing activities.
The call for residents to wear masks came from Tukik B. Tumon, chief of the Central Kalimantan provincial health office, who is worried that the haze will create health problems.
In Jakarta, the forestry ministry and the state minister of research and technology are considering cloud seeding to halt the spread of forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra.
"Cloud seeding is the most feasible technique to put out forest fires," Forestry Minister Muhammad Prakosa said.
Prakosa said that the water cannons commonly used to fight forest fires were not effective.
He refused to say when the project would begin as the study by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology would take some time.
Forest fires are most common in Kalimantan and North Sumatra. Last week, fires disrupted flights in West Kalimantan and haze reached neighboring Malaysia.
Prakosa said that 99 percent of forest fires in Indonesia were caused by human activities and the rest by nature, such as burning peat fires in Kalimantan.