Jokowi, Siti Nurbaya, Tito Karnavian, Budi Gunadi And Anies Baswedan Sentenced To Against The Law On Air Pollution

Capital City Coalition activists take action before the trial for reading the verdict on the lawsuit related to air pollution at the Central Jakarta District Court, Thursday, September 16 (Fakhri Hermansyah/Antara)

JAKARTA - The Panel of Judges of the Central Jakarta District Court decided that the Republic of Indonesia, represented by President Joko Widodo and the Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan, had committed an unlawful act that resulted in environmental damage and pollution, namely air pollution.

"To try, grant the plaintiffs' claims in part. To declare that Defendant I, Defendant II, Defendant III, Defendant IV, and Defendant V have committed acts against the law", said the chairman of the panel of judges, Saifuddin Zuhri, at the Central Jakarta District Court, Thursday.

The five defendants are Defendant I President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo, Defendant II Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Defendant III Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, Defendant IV Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and Defendant V Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan.

The defendants were deemed to have violated Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management and the provisions of all relevant laws and regulations.

"Punished Defendant I (President Joko Widodo) to establish a national ambient air quality standard that is sufficient to protect human health, the environment, and ecosystems, including the health of sensitive populations based on scientific and technological developments", said Judge Saifuddin.

Ambient air quality standards are the levels of substances, energy, and/or other components present in the free air.

"Punished Defendant II (Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya) to supervise the Governor of DKI, Governor of Banten, and Governor of West Java, in conducting an inventory of cross-border emissions of DKI Jakarta, Banten, and West Java Provinces", said Judge Saiffudin.

Furthermore, the Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian, supervises and guides the performance of Defendant V (Governor of DKI Jakarta) in controlling air pollution.

"Punished Defendant IV (Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin) to calculate the reduction in health impacts due to air pollution in DKI Jakarta Province which needs to be achieved as a basis for consideration of Defendant V (Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan) in formulating strategies and controlling air pollution", said Judge Saifuddin.

Meanwhile, the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, was sentenced to do 4 things, namely:

A. Supervise everyone on the statutory provisions in the field of air pollution control and or the provisions of environmental documents, namely:

1. Conduct periodic emission tests on old depot vehicles.

2. Report the evaluation of the arrangement of exhaust emission thresholds in old motorized vehicles.

3. Prepare a recapitulation of immovable pollutant sources whose business activities emit emissions and have an environmental permit and emission disposal from the Governor of DKI Jakarta.

4. Supervise compliance with the specified fuel standards and or specifications.

5. Supervise the observance of the prohibition of burning waste in open spaces that result in air pollution.

B. Imposing sanctions on every person who violates the law in the field of air pollution and or the provisions of environmental documents, including for:

1. Drivers of motorized vehicles that are not standardized for emission from old depots.

2. Business and or activity that does not meet emission standards for immovable sources for its business and or activity.

C. Disseminate evaluation of supervision and imposition of sanctions related to air pollution control to the public.

D. Establish regional ambient air quality standards for DKI Jakarta Province which are sufficient to protect human health, the environment, and ecosystems including population health based on the development of science and technology.

"Punished Defendant V to conduct an inventory of the air quality of potential sources of air pollution, meteorological and geographical conditions as well as land use in considering the distribution of emission sources of pollution involving the population", said Judge Saifuddin.

Furthermore, the Governor of DKI Jakarta is also asked to determine the status of regional ambient air quality every year and announce it to the public as well as formulate and implement a strategic air pollution control action plan, taking into account the distribution of emission sources of pollution in a focused manner, on target and involving public organizations.

"Rejected the plaintiff's claim for the part and the rest. Sentencing the defendants to pay the case for IDR 4,255 million", said judge Saifuddin.

The verdict was decided by a panel of judges consisting of Saifudin Zuhri, Duta Baskara, and Tuty Haryati.

The lawsuit was filed by 30 residents, namely Melanie Soebono, Elisa Sutanudjaja, Tubagus Soleh Ahmadi, Nur Hidayati, Adhito Harinugroho, Asfinawati, and 24 others represented by legal advisor Arif Maulana on July 4, 2019.

In their petition, the plaintiffs requested that the defendants be proven to have violated human rights because they were negligent in fulfilling the right to a good and healthy environment.