SURABAYA: Indonesian schoolchildren prayed for rain on Thursday as another firefighter lost his life battling drought-fuelled blazes consuming forests and peatlands and blanketing parts of Southeast Asia in a sickening haze.
Wildfires have burned more than 1.9 million hectares in the nine months to September, according to deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas – a figure the government has not confirmed or denied.
The resulting haze has sickened hundreds of thousands in Indonesia and reached as far as Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor.
In East Java, where fires have ravaged several regencies and conservation areas including Mount Bromo and the Baluran National Park, the governor urged communities to come together to "pray for rain."
"Many areas are experiencing drought, including fires and so on... Religion offers a way to solve the problem of drought," teacher Mohamad Jatim told AFP of prayers organised at his school in Surabaya, the capital of East Java.
"As people of faith, we are of course optimistic."
In Malang, also in the province, some 250 pupils bowed in prayer with their teachers at a vocational high school.
"We hope that this... will bring rain soon," said headmaster Lusia Andriani.
"There have... been many cases of acute respiratory infections in Indonesia, partly because the rain has not fallen for a prolonged period."
- FIREFIGHTER KILLED -
Indonesia experiences fires every dry season, but this year's blazes have been particularly severe, making hundreds of thousands of people ill.
The haze has prompted school closures in Malaysia and East Timor, and has drifted into Singapore and as far afield as the Philippines.
Five firefighters died in East Java last week after they were overwhelmed by smoke and flames in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.
Another firefighter died on Wednesday in South Kalimantan on Indonesia's part of Borneo island.
The Mahatir Mohammad Zain Foundation, a disaster relief NGO, said the 51-year-old volunteer passed away after falling ill with chest tightness while helping fight a fire in the Barito Kuala Regency.
His death was "a reminder of the risks volunteers face in handling forest and land fires", said the foundation.
The crisis has sparked protests against the government's perceived slow response, as well as a court case against President Prabowo Subianto and other officials in West Kalimantan.
In the capital Jakarta, a dozen demonstrators gathered outside the Chinese embassy on Thursday demanding importers of Indonesian palm oil, mining and forestry products stand in "solidarity" with Indonesia.
Back in Malang, resident Ahmad Saifuddin joined others in praying for divine intervention.
"For the past few days, I have been wondering why almost everyone is trying to solve these disasters using logic. Why don't we try seeking a solution from the heavens instead?" he told AFP.--AFP
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd