City's bad air take residents' breath away

Tifa Asrianti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 04/12/2008 11:17 AM  |  City

Organizations urge the city administration to find a solution to the capital's poor air quality following a health survey showing respiratory-related illnesses are most common in Jakarta.

The Jakarta Statistics Agency's latest household survey recorded the city's monthly morbidity rate at 31.4 percent or 2.81 million people.

The most common afflictions among residents are a cough, a cold and fever, which affect 52.2 percent, 49.7 percent and 32.5 percent respectively. The data also showed 4.31 percent of residents suffered from asthma.

Data issued by the Health Agency last year showed the city's clinics had treated more than 1.4 million people for acute respiratory infections and 280,000 people with upper respiratory infections.

Firdaus Cahyadi, coordinator for the air division at the Environmental Caucus, said there were many indicators to say air quality was worsening. He said even though the number of days with good air quality had increased, the number of bad air quality days also increased.

Throughout 2004, there were 53 clean air days and 5 bad air days. The next year, clean air days dropped to 28, while bad air days increased to 18. In 2006, there were 45 clean air days, while bad air days reached 51.

"People only observe the clean days and forget about the bad days. I heard the air monitoring equipment was out of order, so the results are questionable," he said.

He explained that in 2006, research results showed 80 percent of newspaper boys operating on the streets suffered respiratory illnesses, meaning people on the street are more susceptible to respiratory-related illness, he said.

Andi Rahmah, a researcher at environmental non-government organization Pelangi, said the illnesses were an obvious indication of the city's poor air quality.

"Bad air not only affects our respiratory systems but also people with heart problems," she said.

Firdaus said to improve air quality, the administration should implement clean air policies, such as green areas and emission checks for motorized vehicles.

"The administration should also impose a three-in-one policy on all roads with a busway lane, so people will leave their cars at home and turn to public transportation," he said.

Rahmah said there should be an integral solution for air quality improvement, such as holding greening programs in residential areas and encouraging car and motorcycle owners to use public transportation.

"Car and motorcycle owners should check their emissions every six months. If they are emitting to much, they should take their vehicles to the garage," she said.

The Jakarta Environmental Management Board is planning to monitor the city's air quality by buying a new air monitoring system to replace the broken one in Gambir, Central Jakarta.

Agency head Budirama Natakusumah said the Rp 3 billion worth of equipment was important to measure the city's air quality. He added his agency would place the new machine in the city's central business district, perhaps on Jl. MH Thamrin, Jl. Jendral Sudirman or Jl. HR Rasuna Said.

Tini Suryanti, head of social marketing and the information division at the city's health agency, said respiratory-related illnesses were caused by air quality, unhealthy lifestyles, bad nutrition and population density.

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