Declare emergency if haze reaches dangerous level - Jokowi

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered local governments experiencing haze to declare emergency if it reached the danger level.

Local newspapers quoted Joko, popularly known as Jokowi as saying that via the declaration of emergency, the central government could take immediate steps to tackle the problem, which was reported to be worsening, especially at several districts in Sumatera and Kalimantan.

He has also ordered the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), Indonesian National Army, Police of the Indonesian Republic and local government to conduct haze emergency operations in the affected areas.

Yesterday, the Indonesian authorities warned the haze was expected to be worse as compared to previous years after more than 600 hotspots were detected via sateline imagings in Jambi, Riau and Sumatera Selatan.

The Indonesian weather agency, Indonesian Agency for Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics in a statements said hotspots were detected in Jambi (229), Sumatera Selatan (189) and Riau (178).

Sutopo Purwo, of the BNPB Information Data Centre, said visibility in the districts of Jambi and Pekanbaru in Sumatera was only 500 metres, forcing several schools and airports to be closed.