[Kabar-indonesia] Haze covers nearly all of E. Kalimantan again

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: JP: Russian planes arrive to douse fires, clear haze;
and Russian planes begin dousing Indonesian fires

Haze covers nearly all territory of East Kalimantan again

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan (Antara): Nearly all territory of
East Kalimantan province was covered by thick cloud and haze
Wednesday as forest fires become worse and worse, while the
rain had not fallen there since recent days.

The haze has halted a number of flights from and to several
airports in the province, because the vision shortened to
less than one kilometer, Antara news agency reported.

"Only Kalimarau Berau airport opens, while the others have
been covered by haze," an officer on duty of Kalstar airline
was quoted as saying.

Other airports in the province include Temindung Samarinda,
Juata Tarakan international, Agatis Bulungan, Sepinggan
Balikpapan, RA. Bessing Malinau, and Nunukan.

Haze from forest fires had eased for days after rains poured
the areas. But it has returned again because of continuing
forest burning there.

Haze from forest fires on Kalimantan and Sumatra had spread
to Singapore and Kalimantan recently. Rains that fell
recently eased the problems. But the absence of rains
currently caused haze worsening again.

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The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Russian planes arrive to douse fires, clear haze

Khairul Saleh , The Jakarta Post, Palembang

The arrival in South Sumatra of two amphibious Russian
aircraft will be of great help in fighting haze-causing
fires in the west of the country, a local forestry official
says.

The two BE-200 aircraft, which will be used to douse the
land-clearing fires lit in Kalimantan and Sumatra, arrived
in Palembang at 6:50 p.m. on Monday after a three-hour
flight from Vietnam.

The planes will strengthen the nation's fire-fighting air
fleet, consisting of five BO-105 helicopters owned by the
Indonesian Air Force, Navy and police.

"The ... planes are expected to help speed up the operations
against the forest fires in South Sumatra at a time when
cloud seeding is taking place in a number of regions," South
Sumatra forestry office head Dodi Supriadi said Monday
night.

The House of Representatives has approved Rp 100 billion
(US$10.52 million) to fight the fires, which have caused
choking haze to blanket the west of the country, along with
Singapore, Malaysia and parts of southern Thailand.

However, Sri Lestari, who heads the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment (Walhi) South Sumtra chapter, gave the arrival
of the planes a cautious welcome.

"Ideally, the assistance should have arrived long before
Idul Fitri when the forest fires were at their height. Now
the conditions are already much better as the rains have
already started falling. But it's better than nothing," she
said Tuesday.

The lease for the aircraft was signed on Oct. 23 by
officials from the Russian Emergencies Ministry and the
National Disasters Coordination Agency (Bakornas).

The planes were leased because previous attempts to fight
the fires by air had been unsuccessful, Presidential
spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said late last month.

"Our helicopters, including reinforcements from our Air
Force's Hercules (aircraft) for cloud seeding and water
bombing operations are apparently not sufficient," he said.

Kirill M. Barsky, Russia's deputy chief of mission here,
said the country was happy to help Indonesia fight the haze.

Barsky expressed confidence the two aircraft supported by 29
crew would be capable of extinguishing forest fires over
large areas.

"We're optimistic about getting the best results because of
the experienced crew members," he said.

The planes' crews had fought similar fires in Africa several
years ago and had just finished dealing with blazes in
Portugal, he said.

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Russian planes begin dousing Indonesian fires

JAKARTA, November 1 (AFP) -- Two Russian planes have begun
dropping water bombs on land-clearing fires in Indonesia in
a bid to curb the smoke haze that has engulfed the region,
an official said Wednesday.

Rains have now started to fall on Sumatra island, but haze
has persisted across Indonesian Borneo after last month
smothering parts of Malaysia and Singapore.

"The two Russian planes arrived yesterday (Tuesday) and were

immediately sent to help fight the fires in peatlands in
Ogan Komering Ilir district," said an official at the fire
fighting coordination post in South Sumatra.

The official, who identified herself as Elfa, said the
planes could carry up to 300 tonnes of water each.

They have been rented for 45 days and will also be used in
Borneo, she said.

In Palangkaraya, the capital of Borneo's Central Kalimantan
province, visibility was just 50 meters (yards) at nearly
midday, with no rain or wind forecast, an official from the
province's Environmental Impact Control Agency said.

In South Kalimantan's Banjarmasin, visibility of 200 to 300
metres caused several delays at the airport, an official at
its operation briefing center told AFP.

The outlawed practice of clearing land by fire for the
upcoming planting season has been blamed for the extensive
fires that have sent smoke over parts of Indonesia and
neighboring countries in recent years. Weak enforcement of
the law has allowed it to continue.

The situation has been aggravated by the abundance of
peatland in Borneo and parts of Sumatra, which allows fires
to smoulder underground for long periods of time before
reemerging.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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