Megawati Claims To Be Coughed Because Of Her Dust And Pollution In Jakarta During The PDIP IV National Working Meeting

PDIP Chairman Megawati Soekarnoputri with President Jokowi, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, Ganjar Pranowo / DOK PDIP

Chairman of the PDI-P (PDIP) Megawati Soekarnoputri admitted that she coughed because of dust allergies and air pollution which became a problem for DKI Jakarta residents and their surroundings.

Initially, Megawati coughed several times when delivering the opening speech of the PDIP Rakernas IV. Megawati then said that her condition was not caused by illness.

"This is not a cold cough, it's an allergy. The energy of dust and pollution is like that," said Megawati during the National Working Meeting IV at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, Friday, September 29.

Megawati then highlighted the presence of trees that were able to produce oxygen in front of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). He said, the number should be increased.

"The effectiveness that big trees can be hundreds of years old, and small leaves are more effective at storing C02 and issuing oxygen," said the 5th President of the Republic of Indonesia.

"What does that mean? If you only count 1,000 trees, then I think the actual number should be increased," continued Megawati.

Previously, the DKI Provincial Government began to intensify air quality control. One of them is supervision to the imposition of sanctions on industries that are perpetrators of air pollution.

The area most polluted by air pollution in DKI Jakarta is the City of East Jakarta. This is due to the large number of factories or industries there which are now the attention of the Air Pollution Control Task Force.

"East Jakarta is the target of the Task Force's operations, because the area has a lot of industry and has the potential to be one of the contributors to the source of immovable emissions in DKI Jakarta," Head of the DKI Jakarta Environmental Agency Asep Kuswanto said in his statement, Wednesday, September 27.