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always enjoy looking out of the airplane window, especially during the descent for arrival when I usually try to spot some famous places from above. However, it is a difficult game when arriving in Jakarta. Pollution covers everything.

There are many standards for determining air quality. One is the PM2.5 Air Quality Index (AQI), which measures atmospheric particulate matter (PM) with a diameter under 2.5 micrometers. That is about 3 percent of the diameter of human hair. This hazardous particulate matter is easily seen in hazy skies.

A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association indicated that long-term exposure to PM2.5 may lead to plaque deposits in arteries, causing vascular inflammation and hardening of the arteries, which can eventually lead to heart attack and stroke.

For instance on Aug. 15, the PM2.5 AQI level in Jakarta was recorded at 184 according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). The particle count was already unhealthy based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for particle pollution. On the same day, Singapore’s PM2.5 count was 56.

These fine particles may come from natural sources such as a volcanic eruption. However, what is more concerning are particles produced by human activities, which can be prevented by our government and citizens.

Improper maintenance of vehicle engines, whether they be trucks, family cars or motorbikes, leads to the incomplete combustion of fuel. This causes the insufficient intake of oxygen during fuel combustion leading to the emission of carbon particles. This can easily be seen in a vehicle’s exhaust as a gray colored gas.

In industrial areas, improper maintenance and process control leads to the emission of particles into the atmosphere. For steel plants, power plants, refineries and any other type of plant that requires a combustion process, the exhaust gas must be properly controlled.

Another, often neglected source of particle pollutants is agricultural burning. Even though Jakarta is a metropolitan city, rice fields can still be found, especially in the neighboring cities of Tangerang and Bekasi. Once the rice has been harvested, the rice straw will be burned, as this burning process is the simplest, quickest and cheapest way to clear the field and also to kill pests and weeds. Unfortunately, this burning will always involve incomplete combustion, with gray carbon particles released into the air. The dust particles that settle on the road are continuously brought up into the air by the capital’s high density traffic.

Several methods can help reduce the dust emitted into the environment. Incomplete combustion, as the main source of dust, is generally caused by improper maintenance or improper handling of the combustion process.

Government controls should be improved during the relicensing process for vehicles through the issuance of the vehicle registration document STNK by ensuring the strict enforcement of Jakarta’s mandatory emission tests before the documents are reissued. A limit might also be introduced for vehicles older than 10 years, as the wear and tear of the vehicle may create inefficient engines, leading to improper combustion.

Engineering control is critical to ensure sufficient oxygen during combustion. The fuel-air ratio is critical to ensuring combustion is dust free.

Some industries that emit a lot of particulates such as steel plants must implement fume extraction systems, which require proper maintenance. The system captures the emissions in filter bags before the exhaust gas is emitted into the air.

In industrial areas, the government should monitor all plants that might produce particle emissions.

In Singapore, the National Environment Agency would visit the steel plant I worked at to monitor the particulate emissions to check they were in accordance with the low levels required by the government.

Investment is needed to maintain low dust emissions. Incentives are needed so industries will do their best to reduce dust emissions. Research must be done to find the best policy for every industry that generates pollutants.

Agricultural burning may be prevented through education and the creation of business opportunities. Farmers could be taught how to decompose rice straw to use as fertilizer. The government may also assist prevention by purchasing rice straw so farmers will have an incentive not to burn it, while the government could process it for energy creation using incinerators.

Additional investments should be made for road sweeping machines to clean up dust, especially at night during lighter traffic.

Continuous collective actions to help us have a blue sky in the capital are needed from the government, the private sector, and us, as residents of Greater Jakarta.