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Government blames Jakarta pollution spike on weather, vehicles
Jakarta and its surrounds form a megalopolis of about 30 million people, and its airborne concentration of the tiny particles known as PM2.5 has outpaced other heavily polluted cities such as Riyadh, Doha and Lahore of late.
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People take pictures of Jakarta from a high-riser with the hazy sky in the background due to air pollution on June 6, 2023. The capital’s AQI score of 157 is 13.4 times higher than the level the World Health Organization (WHO) considers safe. (Antara/Fauzan)
T
he government has blamed a pollution spike in traffic-clogged Jakarta on weather patterns and vehicle emissions after the city topped global rankings four days this week.
Jakarta and its surrounds form a megalopolis of about 30 million people, and its airborne concentration of the tiny particles known as PM2.5 has outpaced other heavily polluted cities such as Riyadh, Doha and Lahore of late.
Activists blame the high levels of toxic smog on clusters of factories and coal-fired power plants near the city, with Greenpeace Indonesia saying there were 10 such power plants within a 100-kilometre (62 miles) radius.
But senior environment and forestry official Sigit Reliantoro told reporters on Friday that the high levels of pollution between June and August, when Jakarta ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world, were due to seasonal wind changes.
"In June, July and August, there is invariably an escalation in air pollution in Jakarta due to the dry air," Sigit said at a press conference.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo last month warned of a long summer dry season in Indonesia that could stoke dangerous weather conditions and even wildfires across the archipelago nation, blaming it on the El Nino global weather phenomenon.
He said on Monday that the pollution spikes could be managed by building better public transport and shifting some of the economic and industrial burden from Jakarta to Nusantara, the new planned capital set to open its doors next year.
