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Jakarta air pollution sets social media abuzz
Netizens in Greater Jakarta finally woke up and smelled the air pollution after social media influencers made a fuss about the problem this week, but some concerned people want the issue to go beyond simply a trending topic
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span>Netizens in Greater Jakarta finally woke up and smelled the air pollution after social media influencers made a fuss about the problem this week, but some concerned people want the issue to go beyond simply a trending topic.
One of these is Twitter figure Aulia Masna, who shared the data on Jakarta’s air pollution levels, which was classified as unhealthy on Tuesday, with a provocative question: “Hi, Jakarta, aren’t you suffocating?”
The screenshots, which show the air quality in several places in Jakarta, were posted on his Twitter account @amasna and garnered over 3,500 retweets by Thursday.
It also turned out that on Tuesday morning, Jakarta ranked as the city with the worst air quality in the world, according to the AirVisual ranking, and netizens were abuzz about it.
On Tuesday morning, Jakarta scored 240 in the Air Quality Index (AQI), presented in a purple band that indicates “very unhealthy” air quality levels. Following Jakarta, other big cities such as Lahore in Pakistan, Hanoi in Vietnam, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Wuhan in China also ranked in the big five for worst air quality.
The score was calculated using seven air quality measurement tools installed in all Jakarta municipalities except North Jakarta.
The AQI score, which ranges from 0 to 500, measures the concentration of pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide, sulfuric acid and nitrogen dioxide. In fact, Jakarta has been among the top three in AirVisual’s ranking several times.
In its 2017 report, Jakarta’s Silent Killer, Greenpeace presented data from the United States Embassy in Jakarta showing that between January and September 2017, Central and South Jakarta had experienced only 14 days of “good” air quality while it had 34 days of “unhealthy” air.
The rest of the days were either “moderate” or “unhealthy for sensitive groups”. But many Jakartans do not think that the subject is an urgent one.
Aulia’s tweets and netizens’ surprise that Jakarta ranked first for the worst air quality led to the campaign #setorfotopolusi (uploadpollutionphotos), which was followed by Jakarta-based netizens uploading pictures of smog covering the city, seen from tall buildings or roads.
A photo taken from a plane uploaded by @ifahnfh showing thick grey smog covering the city garnered more than 2,000 retweets by Thursday.
Also entering the conversation, Alfred Sitorus from the Pedestrians Coalition posted on Instagram an animated video depicting a person wearing a thick mask with an alarm sounding off.
“Should we have an air pollution emergency alarm?” the caption asks.
Alfred told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the post was only an expression of the desperation in trying to warn the public about the danger of air pollution.
Even though some people are planning to file a lawsuit against the central government and city administration for “doing nothing” to reduce air pollution, the plaintiffs of the lawsuit are mostly environmentalists.
The general public, however, do not really think of air pollution as an urgent problem. Various surveys show Jakartans’ biggest concerns are traffic jams, floods and solid waste. Awareness about air pollution is not high despite NGO campaigns.
Some, however, said that although the recent online outcry was good for raising awareness, Jakarta needed long-term and serious efforts to reduce air pollution.
Ranggi Arohmansani, a 31-year-old art space manager living in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, said some people might not be fully aware of the environmental issue but jumped into the conversation to garner engagement.
He suspected that the outcry this week would only be a trend that would pass without any real action.
He himself, he said, had done his part in reducing the city’s pollution by cycling from his home to work in Menteng, Central Jakarta, every day, using public transportation whenever possible and buying second-hand things to reduce his carbon footprint.
“I believe that [solving] pollution is a long-term task. We can’t just ask the government to magically solve this overnight. The people also have to do their part by using more ecofriendly transportation means,” he said.
Inez Hapsari, a 26-year-old analyst living in Salemba, Central Jakarta, also showed her skepticism about the online outcry.
“I think we have to see why every year in similar months AirVisual in cooperation with NGOs like Greenpeace always issue similar reports, and the mass media will pick it up,” she said, saying that she had studied the issue several years ago.
“However, it is an important wake-up call for the [Environment and Forestry] Ministry on why we experience bad air quality every year,” she said.
“Maybe they need to create a progressive policy to improve the air quality. This should not be treated only as a temporary issue, but a serious threat to public health.”
