Several flights had to cycle in the air for three times before landing due to the limited visibilitySampit, C Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - Haze from forest and plantation fires has forced the authorities of Haji Asan airport here, East Kotawaringin District, to delay flights, over the past one week.
"Due to the haze, plane arrivals and departures are often late," Head of Haji Asan Airport Maruli Tua Edison Saragih said here Thursday.
The runway was often covered by haze especially in the morning, he said.
Some flights were forced to delay their landing pending the haze covering the runway to disperse, he added.
Several flights had to cycle in the air for three times before landing due to the limited visibility.
The airport needed an instrument landing system to help guide pilots wanting to land their planes, he said.
"We have proposed to have the instrument to the central office, but until now it has not been realized. The instrument is badly needed for flight safety," he said.
He hoped that the haze would not get ticker in the future because it could endanger the flights.
Meanwhile, the East Kotawaringin district administration has set up a command post to deal with forest and plantation fires.
"The function of the command post is to prevent and handle forest and plantation fires in East Kotawaringin," Sanggol Lumban Gaol, an official of the East Kotawaringin district administration, said here on Thursday (July 7).
The command post involves various officers in the district, such as the environmental affairs office, the forestry office, the local fire brigade, the plantation and agriculture office, and police.
Similar command posts will later be set up at all sub districts and villages in East Kotawaringin District.
Head of the East Kotawaringin Fire Brigade Rusli said his office has put out 22 large-scale forest and plantation fires and 48 others at small scale over the past three weeks.
He explained that the East Kotawaringin Fire Brigade has managed to extinguish just 40 percent of the forest and plantation fires occurring in the district, due to lack of equipment and personnel.
(ANT)
(T.SYS/A/F001/F001) 08-07-2011 12:42:27
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
