Haze Frenzy

Oh dear. People of the Klang Valley has been living in the 'magical' mist air which consists of dust and smoke particles for the past week. All thanks to the great wizard, Indonesia.

Smoke haze in Indonesia's Riau worsens

JAKARTA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Smoke haze resulted from forest fire in Indonesia's Riau province is getting out of control, the private news portal detikcom reported on Wednesday.

Starting early morning till Wednesday noon, the capital city of Pekanbaru has been in a condition as if it was cloudy. It did not mean that the rain would start to fall. It was just because the sunlight had been blocked by thick smoke.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) reported that 144 hotspots spread equally in all residences and cities. It was likely that the smoke spread to neighboring areas of Malaysia and Singapore.

Fire also occurred in Pekanbaru downtown with fire ravaging in several empty lands occupied by bushes.

However, the Forestry Minister MS Kaban who recently visited Pekanbaru said that the magnitude of the smoke haze had been exaggerated by national mass media.

A Riau-based non-governmental organization (NGO) expressed its regret upon the minister's statement.

"It is very obvious that fire in Riau is getting worse and out of control. We see fire everywhere," said the Director of Tropika,an NGO, Harijal Jalil.

Tropika's data showed that the forest fire was not only caused by people. Timber companies and palm plantations also contributed to the fire.

SMKB will be holding a marathon tomorrow. Poor SMKBians will not only have to endure the 5KM long and winding path, but also the magically blinding and choking mist air.

Hope: The air gets cleaner soon, since I need my exercise in the outdoor. (I don't have a gym membership)

Nasty Hope: Government declares holidays!