Children demand cleaner city air

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Wearing face masks and unfurling banners, some 100 students from 21 elementary schools throughout Jakarta made an impassioned plea for cleaner air in the metropolis at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Wednesday.

"A blue sky, fresh air, these are the wishes of the children of this nation!" they chanted enthusiastically under the scorching sun despite passing motorists who did not seem to take notice of them.

As part of the campaign to build people's awareness on air pollution, the students, accompanied by their teachers, started the rally by inspecting the City Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) air pollution monitoring station located at the traffic circle that showed a high level of pollutants.

The campaign was organized by Clean Air Partnership (MEB) -- a forum of local environmental organizations -- in cooperation with the Jakarta Elementary Education Agency, BPLHD, and international environmental organizations Swisscontact and Transmedia.

Audrey, 10, a fourth grade student of SD Regina Pacis, said that she enjoyed taking part in the campaign and hoped that Jakartans will eventually hear their call.

"I hope I can use all that I've learned from the program to teach others about the importance of clean air for all of us," she said.

MEB chairman P. Soeseno explained that Wednesday's event was the culmination of a series of campaign programs on promoting clean air that the group had been conducting since September.

"We have to start raising awareness among the public now, especially children, because air pollution has a long-term effect," he said.

During the campaign program, MEB held presentations on clean air to the students and took them to an automobile plant to learn about proper vehicle maintenance to reduce emission levels.

A questionnaire by MEB revealed that 80 percent of the students and their parents were concerned about Jakarta's worsening air pollution. Some 50 percent pointed out that motorized vehicles were the main cause of pollution, while 72 percent agreed that the public was responsible.

Soeseno further explained that in continuation of the program, MEB will ask several high school students to go out on the streets and act as representatives of promoting clean air.

"Whenever they see a (polluted bus emission), for example, they will put a sticker on it asking its driver to regularly maintain the buses," he said.