Want To Imitate Paris, Here's How Jakarta Handles Air Pollution

The multilevel building is disguised by the fog of air pollution in Jakarta, Friday, June 17, 2022. (ANTARA-Aprillio A)

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government will imitate the world's major cities in tackling pollution or air pollution such as Paris, France, and Bangkok, Thailand.

The emulated program is the increase in the number of air quality monitoring sensors and data disclosure as the basis for science-based policies.

Head of the DKI Jakarta Environmental Agency, Asep Kuswanto, assessed that it is time for Jakarta to have a more sophisticated air monitoring system such as the big cities of the world.

Asep said, Bangkok has 1,000 air quality monitoring stations (SPKU), Paris has 400 SPKUs. Jakarta currently has 111 SPKUs from the previous 5 units.

"In the future, we will increase the number of sensors so that they can intervene more quickly and accurately," Asep said in his statement, Wednesday, March 19.

The Environment Agency targets the addition of 1,000 low-cost air quality sensors to make monitoring wider and more accurate.

"With this effort, the source of pollution can be more clearly detected, including how pollutants from outside Jakarta enter the capital city," said Asep.

Meanwhile, the professor of environmental engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Puji Lestari, explained that air pollution in Jakarta mostly comes from industrial activities spread across the Jabodetabek area.

"Industrial sectors, including power plants and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, are still the main contributors to air pollution, followed by emissions from passenger vehicles," said Puji.

In addition to internal factors, Puji continued, air conditions in Jakarta are also influenced by the surrounding area which contributes to the decline in air quality.

"Therefore, cross-regional coordination and a more open data-based approach are needed to achieve significant improvements in Jakarta's air quality," he concluded.