Thick Haze Blankets Riau City Of Dumai

Dumai, Riau, March 31 (ANTARA) - A number of Dumai's residents have complained about the impact of thick haze covering the sky of the city in Riau province.

Rahma, a merchant, said here Thursday evening that the local authorities need to provide the residents like herself with masks to protect them from the haze's hazardous effects.

"The smoke gets thicker at night. Who should be responsible for this?" said this 41-year-old woman.

The related authorities need to give masks because the thick smoke could affect the people's health and daily activities, she said.

A motorist named Razak said the thick haze had even affected his visibility and breathing.

The thick haze was caused by fire of the bush and people's palm plantations in the town. The related authorities had attempted to extinguish the flames.

In October 2010, thick haze of the forest and bush fires in various parts of Sumatra Island blanketed the sky of Batam Island in Riau Islands province.

The coming haze affected Singapore, a tiny city state which shares sea border with the Indonesian island of Batam.

In 1997, Riau and many other provinces in Sumatra island were hit by thick smog, caused by forest fires and slash-and-burn method of clearing land for farming and plantations.

As a result, many airports in Sumatra as well as in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore were temporarily closed. People had to wear masks if they wanted to venture outside their homes or offices.