Affected By Forest And Land Fires, Central Kalimantan Pulang Pisau Regency Government Hopes That The Center For Completion Of Old Air Quality Measuring Instruments Will Be Damaged

Illustration. The Air Pollution Standing Index (ISPU) tool in Palangka Raya City was damaged on Thursday, July 18, 2019. (Between-Adi Wibowo).

The Pulang Pisau Regency Government (Pemkab) asked the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) to repair water quality monitoring system (AQMS) equipment or the air quality monitoring system is currently damaged.

The damage to equipment, which is assistance from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in 2020, has been reported through a letter to the central government through the Directorate of Air Pollution Control of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

"We hope that the request for equipment improvement that we convey through the letter can be followed up by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry," said Head of Environmental Control and Damage of the Environmental Service (DLH) Pulang Pisau Veronica Lenny Puspasari at Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan (Kalteng), Friday, September 8, confiscated by Antara.

According to him, the existence of AQMS is now a necessity, considering that people need data to determine the level of air quality in local districts. The occurrence of forest and land fires (karhutla) at several points in the local district is an excuse for the public to know the extent of the impact on health.

For this AQMS equipment, he said, it was quite expensive. The local government is also still unable to procure due to the limited budget it has.

"The name of this equipment, which is based on real time and online systems, can definitely be damaged at any time, so it needs regular maintenance," he said.

Regarding the damage to AQMS equipment, he explained, until now the local DLH is still waiting for follow-up from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for repairs. Meanwhile, the data needs are using data from the nearest AQMS equipment such as Palangka Raya City.

"For the maintenance of equipment, it cannot be budgeted by the local government because this AQMS status has not been donated, so if there is damage for improvement it is still the responsibility of the ministry," he explained.

At least, explained Veronica, the local district received two additional AQMS equipment because the area with a high vulnerability was forest and land fires. The risk that has an impact on public health is the basis for the local DLH to propose additional equipment to be placed in vulnerable sub-districts.

He explained that there are several indicators or parameters measured by this AQMS tool are the standard air polluting index (ISPU), including hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Ozon (O3), and particulates (PM10 and PM2.5).

"Like the previous data, the air quality in the local district has recently decreased from a good category to moderate," said Veronica.