Tuesday, February 01, 2005 - JAMBI - Jambi city has been blanketed by hazefor the past several days as a result of fires that have burned hundredsof hectares of palm oil plantations in Muarojambi regency.

Joko Fajar, the head of the Forest Fire Relief Center, said satellitephotos showed an increasing number of hot spots in the area, from 12 onSunday to 15 on Monday.

He said his office had deployed two teams of firemen to battle the fires,as well as a team of investigators to probe whether the fires were causedby human activities.

It is common for individuals and plantation companies to clear land byburning.

The haze did not disrupt flights on Monday, with pilot visibility betweentwo kilometers and three kilometers, far above the minimum threshold of1.5 kilometers to two kilometers. -- JP