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Remote working, artificial rain have little effect on Jakarta pollution
Despite the recent government efforts to tackle the pollution, Jakarta air quality on Wednesday morning was still "unhealthy" with a score of 177, even higher than two weeks ago.
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Buildings are seen amid the haze caused by air pollution in Jakarta on Aug. 23, 2023. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
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ntensified measures to tackle Jakarta’s choking pollution, especially remote working and weather modification, have so far had little success in clearing the capital’s foul atmosphere.
Last week, the Jakarta city administration ordered half of its public employees to work from home until Oct. 21. The policy was expanded to 75 percent of city officials whose workplaces are close to next week’s ASEAN Summit venue.
The administration employs 200,000 staff, 60,000 of whom are civil servants.
The remote working policy was designed to cut emissions from motorized vehicles that the city often blames as the main source of air pollution and which have worsened recently, putting Jakarta top of the list of the world’s most polluted cities, according to a ranking issued by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.
In an attempt to wash away the clinging smog, authorities have attempted cloud-seeding to create man-made rain over Jakarta, as the prolonged dry season has also been blamed for exacerbating pollution from vehicles and industrial activities in recent months.
In the past few days, a joint team comprising officials from the Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and the Air Force sowed more than 5 tonnes of salt and quicklime to generate rain in Greater Jakarta.
Such efforts have been deemed relatively unsuccessful because of a lack of clouds over Jakarta, although some parts of the city and its surrounding area reported moderate to heavy rain in the last few days.
