Haze Disrupts Schedules From S Sumatra

Palembang, S Sumatra, Nov 3 (Antara) - A number of airlines have been forced to delay departures from the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport of Palembang, South Sumatra on Monday morning. The nation`s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and Lion Air each delayed two flights and CitiLink with a flight to Jakarta on restricted visibility. "One could see only as far as 200 meter ahead at 06.000 local time," an airport official said, adding, "no take off until 08.30 this morning." Bad weather with thick cloud has frequently affected flights in Palembang over the past three months, he said. Fires in 300 locations had burned down over a 10,000 hectares of bush lands in seven regencies in the province. Some farmers burned the bushes against the law to clear land for farming. In South Kalimantan bush fires were also reported causing difficulty to breathe . Many people chose to stay home and passers by and motorists to wear maskers. Neighboring countries including Malaysia and Singapore have earlier filed protest against Indonesia for haze that spread from bush fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.