INDONESIA: CHOKING SMOKE FROM FOREST FIRES SHROUDS INDONESIAN SIDE OF BORNEO ISLAND

Record ID: 647425

  • Title: INDONESIA: CHOKING SMOKE FROM FOREST FIRES SHROUDS INDONESIAN SIDE OF BORNEO ISLAND
  • Date: 20th August 2002
  • Summary: (U2) PONTIANAK, WEST KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA (AUGUST 20, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. CU; SMOG FROM LAND CLEARING 0.03 2. VARIOUS OF MAN WORKING NEAR LAND CLEARING AREA (2 SHOTS) 0.15 3. SLV: SMOG IN SKY 0.18 4. SV'S: MOTORCYCLISTS WEARING MASKS (2 SHOTS) 0.31 5. VARIOUS OF SMOG ON THE STREET 0.36 6. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) MOTORIST SAYING: "Government never pays attention to this matter, I hope they will do something on it" 0.48 7. MV: TRAFFIC OF CITY OF PONTIANAK 1.02 8. LV/TILT: MORE OF LAND CLEARING; SMOKE (2 SHOTS) 1.15 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 4th September 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PONTIANAK, WEST KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Reuters ID: LVACU0QASVMI67F2HUP0TZAHFJKG
  • Story Text: Choking smoke from forest fires have shrouded
    Indonesia's side of Borneo island , grounding planes and
    pushing air quality way above hazardous levels in parts of the
    vast region.


    Flights had been delayed since Monday (August 19) due
    to thick smoke covering at least two provinces on the island,
    which Indonesia calls Kalimantan and where smoke from fires
    creates health and environmental problems almost every year.

    The Forest Fire Control Centre in Pontianak, capital of
    West Kalimantan and which lies 750 km (450 miles) northeast of
    Jakarta, said air quality was five times above hazardous
    levels.

    Departures and arrivals at Supadio Airport of Pontianak
    are banned when visibility below 1500 meters. In past several
    days the activity in the airport were back to normal after 10
    o'clock in the morning.

    Local authorities in Pontianak decided to halt school
    activities for the elementary schools and kindergartens due to
    the thickened haze.

    Local Indonesian officials said the main problem in
    Indonesia had been communication, with messages from
    provincial governors on controlling fires not often reaching
    outlying areas.

    Indonesian environmentalists have long criticised
    Jakarta's handling of the forest fires.

    The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed
    in June to cooperate in implementing measures to prevent
    fires, most of which originate in Indonesia and stem from land
    clearing at major plantations and also from slash and burn
    farmers.

    Haze from major fires in 1997 and 1998 cost regional
    economies 9 billion US dollars in damage to farming, transport
    and tourism.

    But beset by many woes since the Asian financial crisis of
    the late 1990s, Indonesia has struggled to combat the problem.


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