"Together with the personnel from the provincial administration and other offices, I am still continuing with the efforts to overcome the haze problem. The haze is still there and disrupting public activities," he said.
He said a variety of efforts have been undertaken to deal with the problem which still remains due to the extreme weather conditions prevalent currently.
He said with support from various sides and the general public, he believed that the menace of haze would be overcome.
In view of the situation, he called on the people to avoid conducting any activities that may worsen the situation and to always wear masks when leaving home.
The deputy chief of the task force for overcoming forest and land fires, Yulizar Dinoto, said efforts such as inducing rain artificially were undertaken to overcome the haze and fires.
He said the number of fires continued to fluctuate and focus had to remain on fighting these fire spots.
Muslims in Bulungan, the capital of North Kalimantan, had to brave haze as they conducted their Eid al-Adha prayers.
Thousands of people prayed at the Sultan Muhammad Kasimudin mosque in Tanjung Palas amidst a thick haze.
Haze in the region also forced several flights to be cancelled in the past few days. This haze came from forest and land fires in neighboring provinces.
In Sampit, the capital of Kotawaringin Timur in Central Kalimantan, however, Muslims were able to conduct Eid prayers in relatively better conditions without haze hampering them.
"Thank God that today there was almost no haze. Hopefully, there will be no more haze and public activities would not be disrupted anymore," Surya, a villager of Sampit, said.
"I just came from Camba and did not find any haze though a day before it was very thick and I had fallen in a vegetable field because of poor visibility," Rudi, another villager, said.
The number of fires in Kotawaringing Timur was recorded at 86, according to the office of the Meteorology, Geophysics, Climatology at Haji Asan airport in Sampit, which also warned that people must remain alert as the potential of land fires to break was still big.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
