Indonesian city closes schools as haze worsens
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Jakarta (dpa) - Worsening haze from forest and brush fires caused kindergartens and elementary schools to be closed in a town on Indonesia's Sumatra island Friday, an official said.
"The haze in Jambi city has become a threat to health," said Muhammad Suaidi, the head of the provincial disaster management agency.
The local government were considering deploying aeroplanes to drop water, he said.
"Fire-fighters on the ground have been outpaced by the spread of the fires," he said. Thick smog has blanketed much of Sumatra and the Indonesian parts of Borneo in the past few days because of a prolonged drought worsened by the El Nino weather pattern, officials said.
The practice of open burning to clear land is illegal but is common in Indonesia.
The Indonesian government has warned that El Nino would result in an extended dry spell and more forest fires.
The Agriculture Ministry has predicted that El Nino could damage200,000 hectares of rice fields, or about 1-2 million tonnes of rice crops.
President Joko Widodo warned that legal action would be taken against those who deliberately start fires to clear land.
The drought has hit parts of Indonesia including Java, South Sulawesi, Bali and West Timor, resulting in shortages of clean water.
Experts said El Nino is expected to last until October.
