Indonesia records over 333,000 acute respiratory infection cases as fires rage

ISTANBUL: Indonesia has recorded 333,470 cases of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) linked to forest and land fires in several regions, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry's director of environmental health, Then Suyanti, said daily cases remained high, with 4,522 new cases reported, Anadolu Ajansi reported, citing state-run news agency Antara.

She said the latest Air Pollutant Index showed that air quality in several areas had reached hazardous levels, particularly in six provinces prioritised for fire management: Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.

Suyanti said exposure to wildfire smoke, which contains fine particulate matter such as PM2.5, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and other organic compounds, can cause health problems, including ARIs, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, eye and skin irritation, and other systemic health effects.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said on Thursday that if foreign-backed companies were responsible for recurring forest and land fires, they could lose their operating permits, and revoked concessions could be reassigned to younger Indonesians.

"Regarding forest fires, there are indications that many foreign companies bear responsibility. They have held concessions for over a decade, yet some have committed violations three, four, or even a dozen times — some as many as 19 times," Prabowo said, adding that their permits should be revoked if they committed two violations.

Separately, thousands of students and others demonstrated in Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan, demanding that the government declare forest and land fires a national disaster, according to iNews.

Indonesia is experiencing an unusually prolonged dry season, with El Niño contributing to conditions favourable for wildfires.