By Admin
JAKARTA: In the last weeks of 2024, Jakarta received a bright gift of clear blue sky, an unusual sighting in a city often covered by choking smog that made the country’s capital the world’s most polluted city.
But the clear horizon may not last long, as it depends on the weather and wind that may change.
Jakartans’ hope for a sustainable less-polluted sky may rest with the city’s new leaders, governor-elect Pramono Anung and deputy governor-elect Rano Karno, who will step into office in the coming week.
But the city’s residents have little hope that the pair will realize their campaign promises to push for effective efforts to curb air pollution.
The megapolitan’s sky has been covered in haze from various sources within and beyond the city’s border, such as coal power plants and exhaust gases from motor vehicles, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air’s (CREA) analysis.
The pollution has cost Jakartans their health, with pollutants triggering health problems – from respiratory infections to skin disorders like eczema – and increased risk for conditions such as autism.
A 2023 study revealed that air pollution was linked to over 10,000 deaths and more than 5,000 hospitalisations each year in the city, on top of hundreds of cases of infant death and adverse birth outcomes.
Such a situation prompted gubernatorial candidates running for the November election to make air pollution a part of their campaign agendas.
Ahead of the poll, Pramono and Rano listed some programs they are offering to relieve the pollution, including building more park-and-ride facilities near public transit networks, increasing green open spaces across the city to 30 percent and opening more bus routes connecting Jakarta to its satellite cities.
The pair also proposed to add more sensors and scrubbers, a tool to filter gas or polluting particles from industry exhaust, on factories’ smokestacks to monitor and control pollutants from the industrial sector.
With the pair set to take the city’s top seats in the coming weeks, Jakartans have started to question whether Pramono and Rano’s ideas will work to solve the air pollution problem.
“I’m most skeptical about their plan to add more air pollution sensors. When and if they did, what will be the follow-up then?” said Rabiana Nur Awalia, a 28-year-old private employee who commutes every day from North to South Jakarta.
Jakarta-based writer Okki Sutanto, 35, also questioned the proposed solutions, calling them “normative” and “having minimum breakthrough” in solving the problem.
He was also unsure whether it would be achievable considering that pollution mitigation efforts require cross-sector coordination, including from the central government and other stakeholders.
Low-hanging fruit
Despite doubts from residents, Novita Natalia of Bicara Udara said that Pramono and Rano’s programmes are like the ones her group suggested in their policy recommendations to address air pollution, such as adding more air quality sensors and integrating data about pollution.
However, addressing Jakarta’s poor air quality and some of its root causes requires coordination between various sectors and regions, as the pollution’s sources, such as internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles driven by commuters, are not just from within the city’s limits.
Implementing a higher parking fee to curb private vehicles, for example, would require Jakarta to coordinate with the Finance Ministry, said Bondan Andriyanu, climate and energy campaigner from Greenpeace Indonesia.
While waiting for other regions and ministries to work within their authorities, Pramono’s administration could start working on integrating data from various air sensors, said Bicara Udara cofounder Novita.
For now, the available data on air pollution in the city is not yet integrated after it is gathered from 25 Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AQMS) installed by authorities and more than 80 low-cost, uncalibrated sensors installed by the government and private companies.
City authorities can also require vehicles to use cleaner Euro 4 fuels or enforce a low-emission zone in some of the busiest areas in Jakarta, such as the main thoroughfares of Jl.
Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman, as recommended by Bicara Udara.
Bondan called for Jakarta’s new governor and deputy governor to work seriously in addressing the issue, which is also a matter of social justice: “The most vulnerable people such as children, elderly people and people from the low-income class will be the most impacted.”
Pramono and Rano’s campaign team members Chico Hakim and Mandira Bienna Elmir asserted that the pair would prioritise controlling pollution sources, such as vehicles and industrial activities.
Once they take office, Pramono and Rano will also start working on recommendations to tackle pollution as mandated by a citizen lawsuit against the central government and regional administrations that was accepted by the court in 2021.
“There will always be people who are skeptical,” Chico said.
“One thing for sure is that Pak Pram will give his best effort to make sure the programmes run as planned.” – The Jakarta PosANN
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