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)