Blue skies gone as heavy smog shrouds the city
Blue skies gone as heavy smog shrouds the city
JAKARTA (JP): Thick smog has darkened the skies above the city
for the past few weeks, cutting the visibility of capital
residents.
The smog created a thick blanket over the entire city on
Thursday. The skies were dark in the area surrounding the
National Monument in Central Jakarta, half a kilometer from City
Hall, by the pollution.
The smog was also observed around Jatibaru highway in Tanah
Abang subdistrict, Central Jakarta, obscuring the tops of the
skyscrapers which line the roads.
The exact cause of the smog remains a mystery, although a city
official and environmentalists were willing to venture guesses.
They said the smog was caused by the combination of a
meteorological phenomenon and haze from fires in areas
surrounding the capital.
The head of the Regional Environmental Impact Management
Agency (Bapedalda), Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno, said the smog was
the result of the long dry season, which contributed to fires in
areas surrounding Jakarta.
"We haven't conducted a study, but the smog could be the
result of haze from fires in several areas near the city. The
haze then mixes with dust and smoke from vehicle emissions," he
told The Jakarta Post
Aboejoewono said it was possible the wind blew haze from fires
at farms in the nearby West Java towns of Subang and Karawang or
from the burning of garbage at the Bantar Gebang garbage dump in
Bekasi, over Jakarta. The haze then became trapped in the
atmosphere above the city.
However, he said his office could not gather statistical data
to prove that the range of visibility in the city had been
impaired, due to a lack of equipment.
"The worst thing is that our office has no visibility
evaluation standard to analyze the thickness of the smog.
"So far, we have no guidance for the visibility standard," he
said.
Aboejoewono did agreed that blue skies were rarely seen above
the capital due to the smog.
Similarly, an environmentalist who requested anonymity said
the smog was mainly caused by a meteorological phenomenon
combined with haze from fires.
He said it was common for the hotter atmosphere of the dry
season to mix with haze from fires. This mixture became trapped
in Jakarta's still atmosphere.
"The trapped smog then forms a condensed mist, which we call
as 'ash dome,'" he said.
He said rain would return conditions to normal by cleaning out
the atmosphere. Heavy rains poured on parts of the capital on
Thursday evening.
A project adviser to the Swisscontact environmental
organization, Dollaris Riauati, said vehicle emissions also
played a role in creating the smog.
"A 1996/1997 study showed that gas emissions accounted for 70
percent of air pollution in the city. This figure remains
relevant, even though it is estimated the number of vehicles has
decreased due to the economic crisis," she said.
She said pollution would continue to plague the city because
lots of vehicles were improperly maintained by their owners due
to the skyrocketing price of spare parts. (ind)