T

he Jakarta Environmental Management Board (BPLHD) made an audacious and uninformed claim Friday that Jakarta's air quality was the third-highest in Asia.

Right. If all the other cities in Asia were struck off the list.

Misciting data from the Clean Air Initiative Asia (CAI Asia), agency head Peni Susanti said Jakarta's average level of particulate matter (PM10) was 68.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2008.

Particulate matter is fine suspended particulates small enough to penetrate deep into the respiratory tract and can cause health problems.

"This makes us the number three city in Asia for clean air," Peni said at a press conference, attributing it to the city's various green programs.

CAI Asia is an international forum established by the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and USAID to share experiences and build partnerships to improve air quality in Asian cities.

According to the study, Peni said, Singapore ranked first with a PM10 level of 30 micrograms per cubic meter, followed by Surabaya with 60 micrograms per cubic meter - despite the fact Tokyo and Taipei clearly had far lower PM10 levels than the East Java capital.

She said Ho Chi Minh City was fourth, then Shanghai, New Delhi, Kathmandu, Dhaka and Beijing.

The study Peni had quoted, available at http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-59689.html, showed Jakarta had the 10th-lowest PM10 level of the 20 cities studied, and was the fifth-cleanest of the Southeast Asian cities.

None of the 20 cities met the World Health Organization's recommended PM10 limit of less than 20 micrograms per cubic meter.

A 2004 study by the World Bank ranked Jakarta the third most polluted city in the world after Mexico City and Bangkok.

A study by the University of Indonesia, USAID and Swisscontact revealed vehicles contributed 70 percent of the total pollution in the city.