JAKARTA, July 28 (Bernama) -- The haze covering Pekan Baru, the capital of Riau in Sumatera Island, is reported to have worsened up till Friday evening, limiting visibility to around 50 to 80 metres only.

Apart from drivers who had to switch on their car headlights when driving in daytime, at least five flights were postponed at the Sultan Syarief Kassim Airport Friday when visibility dropped to 30 metres.

The MetroTV reported that the authorities in Riau had handed out face masks to its residents to lessen the health hazards, particularly to respirations, due to the haze.

The haze, which enveloped Pekan Baru since last week, was said to be the result of forest and peat soil burning, a traditional method still used by some farmers to clear new lands to plant crops.

At least 60 hot spots were detected as a result of forest fires, according to the TV station.

Indonesian Forestry Ministry's Forests and Nature Protection Director-General, Arman Mallolongan, was quoted as saying that the local fire brigade had positioned itself in 10 provinces which were fire-prone, including North Sumatera, South Sumatera, Jambi, Riau, the whole of Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.

The haze also covered several towns in West Sumatera, including its capital Padang, for the past two days due to forest and peat soil fires.

According to the Padang Geophysics and Meteorological Department, there were about 57 hot spots in Sumatera base on the satellite monitoring.

The haze, which covered several provinces in Sumatera Island, usually would be carried by wind to Malaysia, its nearest neighbour across the Straits of Malacca.