JAKARTA: As urban air pollution continues to travel across Greater Jakarta, threatening public health and burdening the economy, authorities in the region are facing greater pressure to establish an integrated framework to tackle mounting borderless pollutants.
Greater Jakarta has long been plagued by severe smog that forces its 42 million residents to breathe unhealthy air almost every day.
On Sunday afternoon, the level of microscopic toxic particles known as PM2.5 reached around 66 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) in Jakarta, according to data from Swiss-based air quality monitoring company IQAir.
The PM2 level was around 13 times higher than the safety limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO). But a new study led by air quality management professor Puji Lestari of Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has recorded a large share of additional pollutants entering the capital from its suburbs, making pollution an interconnected problem across the region.
Pollutants from neighbouring Tangerang in Banten, as well as from Bogor, Depok and Bekasi in West Java have contributed to around 38 per cent of PM2.5 pollution in Jakarta, according to the study.
”Since pollution knows no borders, our response must move beyond administrative boundaries,” Puji said on Thursday (Aug 20) during a discussion hosted by climate foundation ViriyaENB.
”Air pollution in Greater Jakarta must be managed through a single and unified air quality framework,” she added.
The study also identified industrial activities as the major force of PM2.5 pollution in Greater Jakarta, contributing up to 49 per cent of the overall figure. The rest came from transportation emissions and coal-fired power plants that accounted for 22 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.
The health and economic costs from the chronic pollution have been staggering, said environmental health professor Budi Haryanto from the University of Indonesia.
Between 2018 and 2023, for every 15µg/m3 increase of PM2.5 there was an increase of around 18 per cent in acute respiratory illness in Jakarta, Budi estimated.
In 2023, he noted, health insurance claims in Jakarta under the National Health Insurance (JKN) programe reached Rp 1.19 trillion (US$67.4 million) for 12 diseases linked to air pollution. ”
Emissions control must be paired with aggressive efforts to reduce public exposure to pollution, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women and the elderly,” Budi said during Thursday’s public discussion.
To curb air pollution, Puji of ITB suggested that the central government and regional administrations across Greater Jakarta should accelerate the adoption of low-emission vehicles and fuels, including by electrifying transit modes.
Gonggomtua E. Sitanggang from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) described the pollution as a consequence of the country's heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
“Accelerating renewable energy adoption, electrifying transportation and phasing out coal-fired power plants are urgent public health priorities that can’t be delayed,” he said
The pollution in Greater Jakarta had led 32 activists and residents to file a citizen lawsuit against the central government and Greater Jakarta regional administrations.
The Central Jakarta District Court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs in 2021, finding authorities guilty of negligence in tackling air pollution in the region. The decision was upheld in 2023 by the Supreme Court, which ordered the administrations to undertake a series of measures to address the problem.
But despite the victory, one of the plaintiffs Khalisah Khalid remains disappointed with the worsening air quality.
“We feel that the government has been deliberately buying time,” she said on Sunday.
Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung on Thursday said its policy alone would not be enough to tackle pollution if coal-fired power plants in surrounding cities remain operational, hoping that the central government will start coordination with regions, Antara reported. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
