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Indonesian capital, outskirt areas overwhelmed by bad air quality: Greenpeace

Xinhua, April 5, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Indonesian capital of Jakarta and its outskirt areas are overwhelmed by bad air quality as harmful pollutant in the air, Particulate Matter (PM 2.5), have exceeded limits in the areas, international environmentalist organization Greenpeace said.

Citing results of air quality monitoring carried out in 19 locations in Jakarta and its outskirt areas from February to March, Greenpeace learned that the air quality in these areas were heavily polluted.

According to Greenpeace, the average PM 2.5 level in eastern Jakarta suburb area of Cibubur during the period was recorded at 103.2 µg/m3, far above the maximum standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and national air quality standard at 25 µg/m3 and 65 µg/m3 respectively.

In suburb areas in southern Jakarta, the PM 2.5 levels showed concerning levels of 65.9µg/m3 and 71.5 µg/m3.

"All these times we never realized how bad the air quality in Jakarta is due to the absence of data related to it," Greenpeace Indonesia Climate and Energy campaigner Bondan Andriyanu said in a recent statement. He said that the availability of data is essential to help the authorities and people in anticipating several diseases caused by bad air quality.

Some diseases in the society are closely related to the air that people breathe every day, he said.

Micro-sized PM 2.5 pollutant may generate various diseases to humans, including acute respiratory problems mostly suffered by children, chronic lung diseases, cardiac problems, lung cancer and stroke, he added.

Greenpeace said the government should encourage the public to use less pollutant-risk vehicles as well as energy sources and revise the regulation on emission in power plant facilities. Endit