---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- The Indonesian Observer, 9th August 1999 Condition in Riau is Better JAKARTA - The air was clearing over Riau on Sumatra Island yesterday after out-of-control forest fires the city was covered by a thick haze, in recent days, officials said. The smoke, from fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan, had pushed air pollution to dangerous levels in Riau , forcing residents to wear masks. The cloud of smoke slowed shipping traffic through the busy Straight of Malacca, which separates Sumatra from Singapore and Malaysia. "The condition is better since Saturday ... only a small number of people were wearing masks in the morning," said Rasidin, an official at the local meteorology and geophysics agency. He said visibility had improved to about two kilometers (1.2 miles), allowing planes to resume flights to and from Riau's Simpang Tiga airport. The airport was closed Tuesday when visibility was only about 400 yards. Residents contacted by telephone in Riau's capital of Pekanbaru, about 800 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, said they have not been able to see the sun because of the smoke. The national aviation and space agency, LAPAN, said 23 hotspots were detected on Borneo, 15 of them on the Indonesian parts of Kalimantan, where 27 hotspots were detected a day earlier. In 1997, blazes on Kalimantan and Sumatra swept out control, and a huge smoke cloud paralyzed the region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has intensified its monitoring of the situation through its Regional Haze Action Plan Coordinating Support Unit, considering the growing recurrence of the disaster. However, none of the ASEAN members have protested to Indonesia over the polluting haze resulted from the forest fires. Malaysia said on Saturday it believes that Indonesia is able to handle the smog covering many parts of Riau, as well as those in Kalimantan. "We have sent no protest to Indonesia because we believe Indonesia is able to handle the [smog] problem," Malaysian Consul Zulkifli Yaacob said. Smog coming from slash-and-burn activities will not cause a big problem, so long as the Indonesian government acts immediately, he said. Malaysia has no plan to send forest fire fighters, such as the 1,200-member group it sent to Indonesia in 1997. He said the dispatch of the firefighters could be carried out based on a bilateral agreement. Zulkifli said the Malaysian people are afraid of clearing land by burning forests or bushes because they will be brought to court. - Agencies ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 12 Aug 1999 jam 09:34:47 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
