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Court rejects air pollution appeal, petitioners urge government to now act
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Smog blankets high rise buildings in Jakarta's business district of Jl. Sudirman area on Oct. 9, 2019. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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etitioners in the Jakarta air pollution citizen lawsuit have welcomed the Jakarta High Court’s rejection of the central government’s appeal against the lawsuit’s ruling and have urged the government to pursue no further legal appeal against improving Jakarta’s air quality.
Last week, the Jakarta High Court ruled against the appeal filed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the environment and forestry minister, home minister and health minister against the Central Jakarta District Court ruling last year that found officials in central and local administrations guilty of negligence for failing to tackle air pollution in Jakarta.
“The court affirmed the ruling of the Central Jakarta District Court [made on] on Sept. 16, 2021,” the appeal decision read on Monday.
The Central Jakarta District Court ruling was read two years after 32 residents of Greater Jakarta acting under the Capital City Coalition filed the citizen lawsuit.
About two weeks following the district court ruling, the President, environment minister, home minister and health minister filed an appeal with the Jakarta High Court.
Lawyer for the lawsuit petitioners Jeanny Sirait of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) welcomed the appeal ruling and called on the government to no longer delay in cleaning up Jakarta's air.
She said that since filing the appeal last year the government had shown that it failed to understand that the lawsuit was an attempt to evaluate air pollution control in Jakarta.
“This victory of Jakartans in the air pollution lawsuit appeal has strengthened the fact that clean air is truly a basic need that cannot be separated from everyday life,” Jeanny said in a statement on Thursday.
She also called on the government to not challenge the appeal decision by filing a cassation to the Supreme Court, saying that it was no longer the right time for legal battles when the very air Jakartans breathed was at stake.
Elisa Sutanudjaja, one of the petitioners in the citizen lawsuit, encouraged the central government and regional administrations named in the lawsuit to take real steps to address the air pollution problem and not to further delay by using legal means.
She said that the minimal and slow actions from the government to control and tackle air pollution in Jakarta had caused her, her family members and many others to be chronically ill from air pollution, which would also threaten the future of the younger generation.
“Stop fighting with words at court. The government must accept this verdict sincerely,” Elisa said.
Separately, Health Ministry legal bureau head Indah Febrianti said the ministry was still waiting for the full appeal decision document.
“After that, we will discuss and coordinate with related ministries and agencies, as well as seeking directions from the leaders [ministers] on the next steps that we will take [in response to the appeal ruling],” Indah said on Friday.
Presidential expert staff member Dini Shanti Purwono declined to comment, referring the matter to the environment ministry.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry and Home Ministry were not immediately available for comments.
