JAKARTA — The Indonesian authorities have urged people to remain indoors amid an increase in respiratory infections as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires worsened dramatically. Nearby Malaysia closed 200 schools and banned open burning in some areas.
Data at the Dumai health office in Indonesia’s Riau province, the worst affected by the haze, showed that the number of patients with respiratory cases treated at local community health centres and hospitals reached 393 as of Wednesday, up from 351 earlier this month.
“The air quality in the city of Dumai is worsening to alarming levels, with air pollution at 293,” Mr Marjoko Santoso, the head of the municipal health agency, was quoted as saying by Antaranews.com.
He was referring to the Pollutant Standards Index. Any figure above 100 is considered unhealthy.
In Bengkalis regency, infections reached 531 as of Monday, from 387 a month earlier. “The sharp increase in the number of respiratory infection cases has been caused by the thick haze blanketing the area,” Bengkalis health office head Mohammad Sukri was quoted as saying on Wednesday by The Jakarta Post.
The illegal burning of forest in Sumatra to clear land for palm oil plantations has been a chronic problem — a practice that produces smoke that drifts northward over to Singapore and Malaysia.
Traditional slash-and-burn agricultural methods to clear land cheaply have also been a problem, which Indonesian officials have said the government is working to rectify. The technique allows farmers to reuse the same plots, reducing the need to burn more forest to free up new land for crops, as well as the use of chemical fertilisers.
The authorities have also suggested that some fires might be blamed on Singaporean and Malaysian companies, which are involved in Indonesia’s plantation industry.
An official of the Pekanbaru Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said the hotspots of forest and plantation fires in Riau province have increased from 106 on Tuesday to 148 yesterday.
Forestry Ministry official Raffles Panjaitan has said the country plans to use cloud-seeding to extinguish raging fires that are mainly centred on peatlands in Riau province. The helicopters are expected to be despatched today.
In neighbouring Malaysia, air quality remained relatively unaffected in the country’s biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, but Johor and Malacca were facing the worst of the haze this year.
The worst hit was Muar, Johor. As of 11am, the air pollution index (API) shot up to 383. Kota Tinggi, also in Johor, recorded a very unhealthy level of 232. Levels above 301 are hazardous.
The Department of Environment, which released the figures yesterday afternoon, also identified four other areas experiencing unhealthy levels — Pasir Gudang (199), Larkin Lama (181), Malacca (137) and Bukit Rambai (119). It also banned open burning in Selangor, Malacca and Johor until further notice and made it punishable by up to five years in prison.
Yesterday, many sought treatment at the Malacca General Hospital. There were 355 cases of respiratory and eye ailments compared to 247 on Tuesday and 159 on Monday.
Education Ministry Director-General Abd Ghafar Mahmud said the National Haze Action Plan had been amended to allow the Education Ministry to take the necessary action to safeguard the health of the students.
He added that schools in areas recording hazardous levels have to be closed immediately. At least 200 schools in Muar yesterday were ordered shut through at least today.
Flights continued to operate normally as the authorities stayed on watch, according to a spokesman for Malaysia Airports Holdings, the operator of Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Riau province, meanwhile, was closed for three hours yesterday as visibility at the runway fell to 750 metres. AGENCIES
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