Haze from Kalimantan Fires Disrupts Flights as Indonesia Battles Blazes

A dense white and yellowish haze has settled over Pontianak, the capital of Indonesia's West Kalimantan province, for several days, disrupting airline flights and complicating efforts to contain forest fires burning across the island of Borneo.

Visibility in the city has dropped below one kilometre since Friday, and poor air quality has also hindered firefighting operations. Equipment supplied by Japan arrived on Thursday to assist the response.

Fires continue to burn in several parts of Kalimantan, particularly in the provinces of West and Central Kalimantan, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. The Forestry Ministry recorded more than 202,000 hectares of burned land between January and July — an area nearly three times the size of Singapore.

In a written statement on Monday, the Forestry Ministry said its latest monitoring data showed a significant decline in "high-confidence" hot spots, which are strongly suspected to be caused by forest fires, in Central and West Kalimantan. No such hot spots were detected in Riau province.

"The thick smoke we're currently experiencing, if we look in the direction the wind is blowing, is also smoke carried here from other provinces on the island of Kalimantan that are also on fire," said Daniel, head of the Disaster Information Task Force at the West Kalimantan Provincial Disaster Management Agency, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

Residents, meanwhile, are hoping the smoke from fires that have burned for more than a month will soon clear. "Hopefully, we pray to God for His protection; may we be blessed by Allah, and may rain fall once again on the land of Pontianak," said Aminah, a resident of the city.

The haze has spread beyond Indonesia's borders. Smoke has drifted as far as the Philippines, more than 800 kilometres away, and breached Malaysia's emergency-level air pollution threshold, prompting authorities to declare an emergency last week in the Malaysian town of Boa in Sarawak state, on the Malaysian side of Borneo.

Air pollution has also affected several areas on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, forcing schools to suspend learning activities. More than 1.4 million students across the country have been affected by the toxic haze.

Indonesian authorities have intensified firefighting operations across several provinces, deploying aircraft provided by regional and international partners, including Japan, the United States, Russia, Australia, Canada and Ukraine. An intensifying El Niño weather pattern and a prolonged dry season have worsened the impact of the blazes.