The governor of the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan has threatened jail terms for people who set fires to clear land as haze thickened over the area and halted many flights, officials said.
Governor Asmawi Agani has issued a circular warning offenders they may face up to three years in jail, said provincial spokesman, Hadi, on Wednesday.
Visibility around 10 am was just 200 meters and face masks were handed out in the streets as people gasped for breath. "We have been given face masks by the Indonesian Red Cross and it is also handing out free masks on the streets," Hadi said.
Idris Sartono of the meteorology office in the provincial capital Palangkaraya said winds were too weak to disperse the haze and rains were not due before late next month.
"To be frank, this condition may well last until at least the end of the year as we are not sure whether the rains would begin to fall in late September as forecast. Last year they came much later," said Sicay Singam, a local environmental official.
He said the air pollution had "long been way over the danger level," adding that the air has been a health hazard for about two weeks.
"Even in the nights breathing is difficult and painful but I think people get used to this as this now occurs almost every year," Singam said.
He said the current conditions were not as bad as in 1997/98 when disastrous fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra island blanketed the region with haze for months.
The government has banned land clearing by fire since 1999 but prosecutions are vry rare.
Merpati Nusantara Airlines on Monday temporarily halted all flights to and from Palangkaraya. An official said they would try partially to resume operations on Thursday.
In the town of Muarateweh 180 kilometers northeast of Palangkaraya, the situation was only slightly better. Visibility was around 400 meters and there had been no wind for the past five days, the local meteorology office said.
In Sampit, 110 kilometers southwest of Palangkaraya, visibility was below 1,000 meters in the early morning but winds from the sea usually cleared the sky by 8 am, weather officials said.