Indonesia's hazy skies worsen as forest burning continues

JAKARTA — Smog caused by slash-and-burn agriculture in Indonesia is continuing to foul air quality, with readings in some parts of Sumatra island deemed “hazardous”.

A gauge of tiny air-pollution particles was at 344.90 as of 10am in Palembang, in the southern part of Sumatra, just beneath the dividing line between “very unhealthy” and “hazardous”. That was down from an earlier reading of 515.63 at 4am, well into hazardous territory, according to Indonesia’s meteorology agency.

The haze, caused by farmers who burn forests to clear their land for agriculture, is an annual occurrence that sends smog wafting northward to Singapore and Malaysia.

Those governments have complained to Indonesia, and Singaporean legislators last year passed a law allowing regulators to prosecute companies involved in illegal forest burning.

Air pollution was deemed “moderate” as of 10am today (Sept 10) in both Pekanbaru in Riau province and Medan in northern Sumatra.

The agency illustrates its readings with emoticons showing a crying face for unhealthy levels, a deeply frowning face for very unhealthy levels or a deeply frowning and squinting face for a hazardous reading.

In Singapore, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit a three-hour reading of 211 at midnight today, while the 24-hour PSI reading was 135-152.

Air quality is considered to be moderate when the 24-hour PSI ranges from 51-100, and unhealthy it ranges from 101-200.

The highest PSI reading ever recorded was 401 in June 2013.

In Malaysia, air quality is measured by the Air Pollutant Index (API). According to data posted on the country’s Environment Department website, the API today rose in several places in the state of Sarawak.

The API reading for Samarahan in Sarawak as of 11am today rose to 175, compared with 130 at 8pm the night before. In the same period of time, the API for Kuching rose to 149 as opposed to 107, and Sri Aman recorded 151 compared with 111.

An API reading of between zero and 50 is considered good, while 51 to 100 is categorised as moderate. A reading between 101 and 200 is unhealthy; 201 to 300 is very unhealthy, and 300 and above is hazardous.

At least eight flights were cancelled yesterday at Sultan Thaha Airport in Sumatra’s Jambi city, according to Contact Center Angkasa Pura II, the state-owned airport operator for Sumatra and parts of Java islands.

The fires are exacerbated by the local dry season. The Indonesian authorities warned last week that this year’s haze will be worse than it was in previous years, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported, and could last until the end of November.

Yesterday, the newly-appointed head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency Willem Rampangilei pledged to clear up in two weeks’ time the haze that is currently lingering over Sumatra.

“In two weeks, that is what we are going to do. We will do our best,” Mr Willem was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post, when he was in Riau.

“People have suffered for far too long. The haze escalation is no longer disruptive, but has threatened the health of many people,” he told reporters at the Riau forest and land fires emergency task force premises.

Citing a 2013 World Bank report, Mr Willem said the total economic loss that the haze caused Riau has amounted to 20 trillion  rupiah (S$1.97 billion), and stressed that the loss of revenue from the smog could not be dismissed as insignificant. AGENCIES