Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Ministry ofForestry and Environment on September 15 closed more than 30 plantationcompanies in Kalimantan and Sumatra as part of efforts to minimise wildfires.

According to YadizNurhuda, an official from the ministry, mostof the companies are in West Kalimantan, with the rest in central Kalimantan,Riau and Jambi.

He said forest fires have affected 50ha in the area, andoccurred two times in August and one in September.

Meanwhile, schools in twocities in the Indonesian part of Borneo Island will be closed for a week aftersmoke from forest fires caused air quality to hit “dangerous” levels.

According to the ministry,he air pollution index in Palangka Raya, the capital of Borneo’s CentralKalimantan province, hit 500, or “dangerous,” on September 15. Any readingabove 100 is considered “unhealthy.”

Winaryo said other schoolsin Central Kalimantan will start half an hour later, at 7.30 a.m. local time.Schools have also been advised to cut class duration to 30-minute periods.

Meanwhile, schools in WestKalimantan, which were closed due to deteriorating air conditions fromSeptember 12-14, will reopen on September 16.

Indonesian President JokoWidodo has ordered heads of the armedforces, public security force as well as other agencies to work together tofight forest fires.

Forestfires often occur in Indonesia as growers use fire to clear lands to make roomfor new plantations. But the fires often rage out of control, especially duringthe dry season.

Indonesiahas deployed about 10,000 soldiers, police and personnel from disastermanagement agencies and used millions of tonnes of water to douse the flame.

Thehaze has spread to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

OnSeptember 15, a Lion Air flight failed to land in NorthKalimantan Province's Juwata International Airport due to poor vision. Thepilot decided to divert his airplane's landing toSepinggan InternationalAirport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Haze from forest fire has led to the delay of many flightsfrom Palangka Raya to Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta and Solo.

Basedon monitoring data of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency(BMKG), 1,231 hotspots were detected on Sumatra Island, 1,865 on Indonesia'sKalimantan Island, 412 on the Malaysian Peninsula, and 216 in Serawak andSabah, Malaysia./.