HAZE AGAIN DISTURBS FLIGHTS IN DUMAI, RIAU PROVINCE

Dumai, Riau Province, Aug. 5 (ANTARA) - Haza enveloped Dumai city, Riau Province, forcing the closure of Pinang Kampai airport here on Wednesday morning.

A Pelita Air flight on the Jakarta-Dumai route was canceled due to the haze, according to Van Switen Sitanggang , an officer at the Pinang Kampai airport's control tower, told ANTARA.

"A Pelita Air Fokker 100 in Jakarta has canceled its flight to Dumai due to poor visibility," Sitanggang said.

Visibility at the airport was only less than 500 meters making it not safe for flights, he said.

"Today, the airport is temporarily closed. We don't know until when the airport is closed because the haze is still thick," he said.

A Fokker 50 of Riau Airline which was scheduled to carry a number of National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) officials from Pekanbaru to Dumai also had to cancel its flight.

Because of their flight's cancellation, the Lemhanas group eventually departed for Dumai by bus instead. An overland trip from Pekanbaru to Dumai takes around four hours but a flight only 30 minutes.

Pakanbaru airport was also reportedly affected by haze produced by forest and plantation fires.

In Dumai city, motorists had to switch on their headlights during daytime as visibility was less than 30 meters due to the haze.

Indonesia received United States assistance to conduct a fire-fighting exercise and Malaysian aid to organize a course on tackling forest and plantation fires this year, especially in Riau Province.