Friday, September 08, 2006

Fire's haze darkens Borneo

Dozens of uncontrolled fires continue to thicken the haze over the island of Borneo, officials said Friday.

Some eight million hectares across Indonesia have burned in the last month due mostly to illegal land-clearing and illegal logging. About 60 percent of the burnt area was farm land with the remainder forest.

"Now visibility is down to 500 metres, planes can still take off but we will have to see later," said an official speaking of Central Kalimantan.

Villagers heading home through a thick haze of smoke from forest fires in Riau, Sumatra province, August 2006. At least eight million hectares across Indonesia have been damaged by forest fires in the last month, officials have said as dozens of uncontrolled blazes continued on Borneo island.(AFP/Greenpeace/Getty Images/File/Vinai Dithajon)
Villagers head home through thick haze uncontrolled forest fires in Riau, Sumatra province, August 2006. AFP/Greenpeace/Getty Images/File/Vinai Dithajon via Yahoo News.