Indonesian President Joko Widodo, three ministers and three regional administrators must act much harder against the enormous air pollution in Jakarta. This was decided by a court in a case brought two years ago by 32 residents of the Indonesian capital.
The court instructs the seven to ensure that air quality standards become much stricter, for the benefit of public health and the environment. The Minister of Health and the Governor of Jakarta must consider how they are going to check whether these standards are actually being complied with. The judges find the accusation that Widodo and the others have violated human rights in this area unfounded.
However, the government must take other measures, such as introducing an inspection for older vehicles. Many people in Jakarta have a moped or motorcycle that has been in use for years and traffic is jammed in many places from early in the morning until late at night.
Millions of illnesses
More than 30 million people live in the Jakarta metropolitan area, about 10 million of whom live in the city proper. The air is heavily polluted, especially by road traffic, industry and coal-fired power plants.
The particulate matter content in the air is very high. Last year, according to official figures, this led to 5.5 million cases of illness directly related to air pollution.
Pointless actions
Originally, the court was supposed to rule in May, but that was postponed several times. It was not immediately clear whether the government will appeal, but the governor of Jakarta tweeted that he is waiving and that he is willing to comply with the court decision.
A lawyer for the citizens who filed the case said he hopes Widodo and his associates will now move quickly to fight air pollution, “rather than taking pointless actions such as challenging the appeal decision.”
There are several substances that determine the air quality, but the amount of particulate matter in the air, expressed in PM2.5, is the most important:
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