The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) refuted that Jakarta has the worst air pollution in the world. Sigit Reliantoro, the Ministry’s Director General for Pollution Control and Environmental Damage, said data comparisons were required to evaluate the capital’s air quality index, and the title as world most polluted city is not necessarily true.
“It’s important to correct the perception that Jakarta is the world’s dirtiest, most polluted city. We haven’t looked at other sources of information yet,” Sigit stated at a news conference on Sunday, the 13th of August, 2023, at the KLHK Ministry Office in Central Jakarta. He cited the website aqcin.org, which said Jakarta had a pollution level of 160. This amount was less than Yangon, Myanmar (211), Copenhagen, Denmark (500), and Anchorage, Alaska (200).
Reliantoro claimed that Jakarta had healthy air quality during the pandemic and pre-pandemic eras based on statistics from the government between 2018 to 2023. However, Reliantoro did not dispute that there had been an increase in pollution in recent months.
This is because air quality measurements are made between tall buildings in Indonesian metropolitan regions, particularly Jakarta, with no wind circulation. “This causes the pollution to multiply,” Reliantoro explained.
This is added to motor vehicle emissions, resulting in persistent pollution and an increase in the concentration of even ten times from the level before. This is what Reliantoro referred to as the street canyon phenomenon.
Reliantoro claims that Bandung and other major cities saw the same occurrence. The air pollution was contained in the valley’s form and could only be removed by rain or wind.
The IQAir website listed Jakarta’s air quality as the world most polluted city as of 06:14 Jakarta time on Sunday, the 13th of August, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) hits 170 points and classified in the unhealthy category. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual air quality guideline value was 18.6 times higher than the concentration of Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 at 93.2 micrograms per cubic metre.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AQI: 157) followed by Jakarta, Johannesburg, South Africa (AQI:156), Hanoi, Vietnam (AQI: 151), and Doha, Qatar (AQI: 140) were listed as the other most polluted cities in the world.
Interested in this topic? Check out our other articles from Social Expat:
