Indonesia: Air quality good
Indonesia: Air quality good
01 July 2013
published by www.bangkokpost.com
Indonesia — Indonesia declared on Monday that air pollution in parts of Sumatra island had returned to normal levels after days of efforts to fight forest fires that have choked areas of Southeast Asia in haze.
Twenty-one people have been named suspects in connection with the fires, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Monday.
“Air quality has improved, two new hotspots in Bengkalis have been put out and 21 people named as suspects,” Yudhoyono said in his official Twitter account.
There was only one hotspot remaining and pollution indexes in three districts on Sumatra, worst-affected by the haze, have dropped to below 100, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Agency.
“Air quality is already good and visibility is above four kilometres,” he said.
Indonesia intensified efforts to fight forest fires last week after smog from the blazes choked much of Riau province on Sumatra, Malaysia and Singapore.
Yudhoyono apologised to Singapore and Malaysia, where pollution reached hazardous levels as a result of the haze.
