Fri 13 September 2019:
Indonesian authorities closed an airport on Sumatra island on Friday due to poor visibility caused by smoke from raging fires burning through peatland, while schools in several provinces, as well as in neighbouring Malaysia, were suspended due to the hazardous haze.
As this develops, the transboundary haze is threatening to cause more diplomatic tensions between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, as Malaysia’s environment minister, Yeo Bee Yin said that Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad plans to write a letter to his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo “to draw attention” to the problem.
Fluctuating visibility that at times was just 300 metres (0.19 miles) forced airlines to postpone flights to the main airport in Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province, said Yogi Prasetyo, the airport’s executive general manager.
The worsening haze meant more schools in the Riau and Jambi provinces were closing, education office officials there said.
Health offices in both provinces showed more than 300,000 people suffered respiratory illnesses since the haze began and officials said more people have been seeking medical help for respiratory ailments in recent weeks.
Nearly every year, Indonesian forest fires spread health-damaging haze across the country and into neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.
The fires are often started by smallholders and plantation owners to clear land for planting.
Many areas of Indonesia are prone to rapid burning because of the draining of swampy peatland forests for pulpwood and palm oil plantations.
At least four of the plantations are subsidiaries of Malaysia companies.
Malaysian Environment Minister Yeo was quoted as saying on Friday: “We hope Indonesia will be responsible for the fires in their own country.”
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