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🇸🇬 Singapore /Environment & Climate

Locals pray for rain as fires and haze plague Indonesia's Kalimantan

From The Straits Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Ongoing story
  • Wildfires and haze in Kalimantan have forced hundreds of schools to close, leaving about 200,000 pupils learning from home in West Kalimantan.
  • The fires have driven a sharp rise in respiratory infections, with more than 1,400 cases recorded in Kubu Raya in September after 6,396 in August.
  • Officials and educators are struggling with depleted mask supplies, unreliable internet access and prolonged school closures as they wait for rain.

For Syarifah Hatifah, the haze has produced the longest school closure of her 30-year career. The 57-year-old vice-principal's junior high school in Pontianak is now in the third week of its second closure this fire season.

Hundreds of schools across West Kalimantan have closed indefinitely because of air pollution, according to the provincial education ministry. About 200,000 pupils are studying from home. Syarifah said the arrangement protects children from roads filled with dust and smoke, but it has created new obstacles for families without reliable internet connections or computers.

The hope is that at home, in terms of health, they can be protected... because they are inside the house. They don't have to go through roads full of dust and smoke.

· Syarifah HatifahThe school vice-principal explained why pupils were being kept at home during the haze.

Teachers continue to report to school and teach online from empty classrooms. Some students miss live lessons because of power cuts, uncharged phones or weak connections in remote areas. The classrooms do not have air purifiers, and teachers remove their masks so pupils can understand them clearly.

Sometimes... there is a power outage at their home, or they forget to charge their phones.

· Syarifah HatifahShe described practical problems that prevent some pupils from joining online lessons.

When in-person classes resume, Syarifah's school plans to provide free additional lessons. She said staff hoped the haze would pass quickly, noting that it usually disappears after rain. West Kalimantan's wetter season normally begins around October or November.

Health services are also under pressure. Iwansyah, who heads the health agency in Kubu Raya regency, oversees services for about 700,000 people across 123 villages, supported by one general hospital and 21 clinics. More than 1,400 people have been treated or hospitalised for acute respiratory infections so far in September, following 6,396 cases in August.

We distribute masks to the public every day, about 1,000 masks per day. Of course our stock is starting to run low.

· IwansyahThe Kubu Raya health official warned that mask supplies were being depleted.

The agency distributes around 1,000 masks a day, but Iwansyah said supplies are beginning to run low. He said the agency had requested more masks from the provincial authorities.

We hope that this haze will pass quickly. Usually after the rain falls, the haze will disappear.

· Syarifah HatifahShe expressed hope that rainfall would end the prolonged disruption.
About this summary

Originally published by The Straits Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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