Thick Haze Blamed for Ship Collision in Eastern Sumatra
8/9/99
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Title: Thick Haze Blamed for Ship Collision in Eastern Sumatra
Source: United Press International
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: August 9, 1999
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug. 9 (UPI) Thick haze from forest fires and
cropland burning are being blamed for a tanker collision in eastern
Indonesia's Sumatra province of Riau, killing at least 10 people.
Authorities say today unless heavy rainfalls or firefighting efforts
succeed, the haze will continue blanketing the province for months.
An Indonesian flag tanker collided with a tug boat in Siak River of
Riau province on Saturday evening, where visibility was limited to 30
meters (about 98 feet). The tanker then hit another vessel and caught
fire, killing 10 people.
In Jakarta, Indonesian President B.J. Habibie called on officials to
"not let our forests burn again due to our negligence." He added
that all officials should cooperate to prevent a recurrence of the
deadly smoke haze that caused severe health problems to millions of
people in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in 1997.
The haze prompted government authorities in Riau to temporarily close
all kindergarten and elementary schools in the capital of Pekanbaru.
A provincial forestry official says the forest fires in Riau continue
to spread while local authorities lack funds and the equipment to
fight them.
The official blamed the fires on a long drought and slash-and-burn
farming, adding that unless heavy rain comes soon, "there is no other
choice to extinguish the raging fires but through (cloud-seeding to
create) artificial rain."