Quoting from the IQAir website at 06:20 AM, the US Air Quality Index (AQI US) in Jakarta was recorded at 156, ranking it the fourth-worst city for air quality worldwide on Wednesday morning (August 16).
Citing from Kompas.com, based on the pollution levels, Jakarta has been categorized as having unhealthy conditions for the past three days. The highest pollutant concentration in Jakarta’s air on August 16 was PM 2.5, 13 times the annual air quality guideline the World Health Organization (WHO) set.
In terms of weather, that day, the city was hazy with a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, humidity of 72%, wind speed of 3.7 km/h, and pressure of 1014 millibars.
Highlighting the air quality in the Greater Jakarta area recently, President Joko Widodo raised the issue during a limited cabinet meeting. The president mentioned that the air quality in the capital city and its satellite cities and regencies for the past week was at 156, indicating unhealthy conditions.
Several factors contribute to poor air quality in Greater Jakarta, including emissions from fossil fuel-based transportation and industrial activities in the region.
Dr. Fahmy Radhi, a lecturer at the UGM Vocational College and an energy economics observer, acknowledges that three coal-fired power plants (PLTUs) operate around Greater Jakarta: PLTU Suryalaya, PLTU Banten, and PLTU Lontar. Still, their carbon emissions are low.
According to him, all three power plants have managed to keep their emissions well below the limits specified in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. 15 of 2019 on Emission Standards.
The Ministry of Environment and Forestry even awarded the three power plants the Gold PROPER (Environmental Performance Rating Program) for their outstanding environmental management practices exceeding the required standards and continuous community development efforts.
“The award is well-deserved because these three power plants have been implementing Electrostatic System Precipitator (ESP) technology that controls ash from the combustion process and captures PM 2.5 dust, preventing it from polluting the air,” Dr. Radhi said on Wednesday (August 16).
In addition, these power plants have also adopted Low NOx Burner technology to reduce NO2 pollution to levels well below the Ministry’s limits, meaning the poor air quality in Greater Jakarta mainly comes from motor vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions.
Thus, he believes that considering the extreme air pollution, the government’s policies should be equally extreme.
The government should implement odd-even traffic policies for private vehicles across the Greater Jakarta area for 24 hours to reduce pollution from motor vehicles.
This policy is expected to reduce the number of private vehicles on the area’s roads by half. To support this policy, the Jakarta government should increase the number of electric-based mass transit buses and seriously develop the electric vehicle ecosystem.
“To address air pollution from factories, the government must take strict actions against companies that do not treat their waste properly and continue to emit smoke that worsens air pollution. All these measures need to be taken. We hope that these can effectively reduce the rate of unhealthy air pollution in the area,” Dr. Radhi explained.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Photo: Kompas.id