Bad Air in Jakarta, Heru Budi Suggests Civil Apparratus WFH 50:50 and 2400 CC Vehicles are Mandatory to Use Pertamax Turbo Fuel

Illustration of air pollution in Jakarta (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono proposed a number of policies that could be taken by the central and regional governments in reducing air pollution in Jabodetabek.

After a closed meeting chaired by President Joko Widodo, Heru proposed that all civil servants, both the DKI Provincial Government and institutions to implement Work From Home (WFH) rules of 50 percent every day.

"We discussed WFH reducing the transportation used by DKI Jakarta civil servants for WFH by 50 percent - 50 percent or 40 percent - 60 percent to reduce daily activities at the DKI Regional Government. Earlier we also asked other ministries to do it with WFH," said Heru at the Presidential Palace, Monday, August 14.

Then, Heru also suggested that the government could ban vehicles with 2,400 CC and above from using subsidized fuel.

"Next we suggest that in Jakarta for 2400 CC vehicles it is better to be disciplined in using Pertamax Turbo," said Heru.

On the other hand, Heru admitted that he would tighten the permits for buildings with tall structures to be obliged to apply the green building concept.

"We will emphasize and tighten again every building that gets a high-rise building permit, we will tighten it even though DKI regulations already exist for them to do green building," he explained.

Later, Heru admitted that he had managed the addition of green open space (RTH) in 800 locations to accommodate 216 thousand trees since the initial opening until now.

In today's limited meeting, President Joko Widodo said it was necessary to push for a hybrid work system to reduce air pollution in Jabodetabek which in the last week was in the very bad category.

"If necessary, we must have the courage to encourage many offices to implement hybrid working, work from office, work from home maybe. I don't know later from the agreement at this limited meeting, whether (working hours) 7-5, 2-5, or the number that others," Jokowi said at the start of the limited meeting.

Jokowi said the air quality in Jabodetabek over the past week was very bad. According to Jokowi, the long dry season and the use of energy sources from coal are the factors causing the poor air quality in Jabodetabek.

"The long dry season for the last three months has led to an increase in high pollutant concentrations and the release of emissions from transportation and industrial activities in Jabodetabek, especially those that use coal in the manufacturing industry sector," he said.

In the short term, he also ordered related ministries and non-ministerial government agencies (K/L) to intervene to improve air quality in Jabodetabek.

These interventions, Jokowi added, include weather engineering to attract rain in the Jabodetabek area and implementing regulations to accelerate the implementation of emission limits, especially in the Jabodetabek area.