Air pollution is estimated to contribute to 7 million premature deaths every year globally and is considered by the United Nations to be the single biggest environmental health risk.

Jakarta and its surrounds, making around 30 million people, had outpaced other heavily polluted cities including Riyadh, Doha and Lahore during the week in the concentration of tiny particles known as PM 2.5, AFP reported.

It has topped IQAir’s live ranking of pollution data, which only tracks major cities, at least once every day since Monday, based on the Swiss company’s data.

Jakarta has regularly recorded “unhealthy” levels of PM 2.5, which can penetrate airways to cause respiratory problems, many times above the World Health Organization’s recommended levels.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo told reporters on Monday he planned to tackle pollution levels by reducing “Jakarta’s burden” as the country prepared to move its capital next year to Nusantara in East Kalimantan.

He also said a planned metro rail network across Jakarta ”must be finished” to reduce pollution.

Popular

Indonesia at 81: Whose sovereignty are we celebrating?

Calls for reform grow ahead of Prabowo’s state address

Indonesia’s rare earth push faces low-content, costly extraction hurdles