‘Hazardous’ levels of air quality in parts of Indonesia’s Borneo
Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan was the most polluted city in the archipelago, with an air quality index (AQI) of 780 as of noon on Aug 31. Meanwhile, a Japan Self-Defense Force transport ship is enroute from Hiroshima to Indonesia to aid in firefighting operations.
Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province recorded the most hazardous air quality on August 31, with an AQI of 780 in Palangkaraya, according to Swiss monitoring platform IQAir. Pontianak, in West Kalimantan, had an AQI of 593 at the same time. AQI readings above 300 are classified as hazardous. Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono revealed that over 5 million people in Borneo and Sumatra islands were directly threatened by the toxic smoke from numerous fires across the archipelago last week.
More than 13,500 individuals sought treatment for respiratory infections in July and August. To combat the forest fires, the Indonesian military and other government agencies have initiated ecosystem restoration and optimized water sources for rehabilitation purposes. The Japanese Self-Defense Force also sent a transport ship and 600 personnel, along with three helicopters, to Indonesia for the first overseas firefighting mission under a cooperation agreement signed last May.
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