Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Some 529,527 people have suffered from upper respiratory tract infections due to the forest- and land fire-triggered haze that has plagued the country since several months, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
"The haze plaguing the country has caused upper respiratory tract infections in 529,527 people," Head of Data Information and Public Relations of the BNPB Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted on Friday morning.
The victims were from Sumatra and Kalimantan, particularly 60,225 from Central Kalimantan; 79,888 from Riau; 129,229 from Jambi; 115,484 from South Sumatra; 46,672 from West Kalimantan; and 98,029 from South Kalimantan.
"The haze victims totaled 529,527 people," he reported.
The data is based on the report received by the BNPB on October 29, 2016, Sutopo remarked.
However, there is a possibility that the actual count could be higher, he affirmed.
This is because some people ailing from diseases did not visit the doctors at the Community Health Care Centers (Puskesma) or the hospitals.
"They perhaps consulted the doctors independently, and so, they were not registered," he pointed out.
The government has been making efforts to overcome the haze problem caused by forest and plantation fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
He stated that the government had also built several "rumah singgah," or shelter houses, at the evacuation sites for the residents exposed to haze.
The shelter houses are fully equipped with facilities, such as air purifiers and others, which were offered to the haze victims for free.
In the meantime, Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) Setya Novanto observed the handling of forest fires and haze in Jambi province on Wednesday, saying they could soon be overcome.
After receiving inputs from Jambi Acting Governor Imran, who is in charge of the forest fires task force, I am confident that the fires and haze problems could be solved immediately," Novanto noted in a written statement released on Thursday.
Accompanying Imran during the meeting with the house speaker was Chief of Jambi's Military Resort, Colonel Makmur Umar, who is also commander of the task forces.
Novanto inspected the fire-affected areas in Jambi on Tuesday in the company of Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Lugut Binsar Pandjaitan, Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti, National Defense Forces (TNI) Commander General Gatot Nurmanto, Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek, Forestry and Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya, and Head of BNPB Willem Rampangilei.
he house speaker said the steps to put out the forest fires and end the haze problem in Jambi have been undertaken and were on the right track.
He said that of some 19.5 thousand hectares of forest areas burnt by fires in Jambi, fire fighters had managed to extinguish the fires in only 185 hectares of land area.
"Special handling and massive efforts by all elements of the society are required to tackle the haze that has shrouded 5.1 million hectares of Jambi's areas," Novanto added. (WDY)
