RI Issues Notice To Airmen On Sumatra Forest Fires

Jakarta, June 25 (Antara) - The Indonesian Transportation Ministry has issued a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) to ensure non essential aircraft stay clear above Pekanbaru, Riau Province, which is being shrouded in haze. The Air Transportation Directorate General has issued Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) No. WRRR-80899/13 on Forecast and Raining Maker from June 24 to 30, 2013, from 8 am to 4 pm Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB)," Bambang S Ervan, a spokesman of the transportation ministry, said here on Tuesday. The NOTAM was issued to help pilots with their job to make cloud seeding needed to induce artificial rains in plantations and peatlands being hit by fires, he said. Every flight above Pekanbaru air territory must have a license from the Air Traffic Controller (ATC). The visibility in Pekanbaru is very limited due to haze coming from plantation and peatland fires. "In Tampan Sub District, Pekanbaru, the visibility is only 300 meters," he said. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday instructed concerned parties to intensify efforts to extinguish forest fires in Riau Province to immediately overcome haze that had reached neighboring countries. "Because we have not yet achieved our target to put out the forest fires as expected in one week, I decide to step up the efforts to overcome the smoke disaster. Efforts to put out fires by regional command assisted by the central government are now overall directly coordinated by the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). Regional elements will of course remain," the President told a press conference at his Presidential Office. The President said that Riau Province had been declared as a disaster area and efforts to put out the fires were now led by BNPB Head Syamsul Maarif. It was like with the handling of the disaster when Yogyakarta was hit by an earthquake several years ago.