Jakarta – Head of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) Goenawan Ibrahim warned on Thursday that the haze problem in Kalimantan might worsen as forest fires could easily be sparked by the protracted dry season in the region.

He said the rainy season in Kalimantan will begin later compared to the other regions in Indonesia where the transitional season between the dry and rainy seasons falls in September.

"Usually the transitional season falls in September, but for Kalimantan, it may only be in October this year. The forests in the region can easily catch fire in their present condition," Goenawan told The Jakarta Post.

The risk of fires is greatest in forests whose land consists mainly of peat, he said. "Such forests can even catch fire on a hot and dry day. So not much can be done to prevent fires like this," he said, adding that the fires are difficult to extinguish as well.

Haze from forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have become an annual problem for Indonesia. Apart from causing health problems for the local people, the haze also disrupts flight schedules. The haze also spreads to neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

North Sumatra and Aceh provinces will also face this year a longer than usual dry season. Goenawan, however, said the dry season will not affect food production. "Usually the last month of the dry season is the driest," Goenawan said.

Goenawan added that the dry season only affected rice production. However, if the region has a good irrigation system, there will be no problems as the rice fields will have enough water, he said. "But if the rice fields rely on rain water, rice production will suffer," he said. He said the provinces whose rice production suffered from a lack of water included Lampung, Central Java, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.

Commenting on the possible return of the Elnino weather phenomenon, which cause a longer dry season, Goenawan said Indonesia was unlikely to be affected by the phenomenon this year. "It is unlikely that Indonesia will be affected by Elnino this year.

However, there is a 25 percent possibility that we will be affected by it next year," he said. Nearly all of Indonesia's territories, except West Sumatra, have the potential of being affected by Elnino.

BMG held on Thursday a meeting with a number of institutions to discuss climatic problems and its impact. Among the organizations that attended the meeting were the National Aerospace and Space Agency (LAPAN), the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and the Ministry of Agriculture.