Concern over accuracy of air-pollution displays
Concern over accuracy of air-pollution displays
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Three electronic signboards displaying Jakarta's air pollution
levels set up in several spots around the city are meant to
inform commuters about the city's air quality, however many
people are in the dark about its function due to a poor public
awareness campaign.
"I can see a part of the board from here and every day I
notice that the air pollution levels on the board never changes.
It is always at the green level. I really don't know what it is
all about," said Irfianto, a security guard whose office is
located only 50 meters from a board at Gambir.
Wahyudianto, a resident of Jl. Jaksa, Central Jakarta, doubted
whether the information displayed on the board was valid.
"I pass here almost every day, but I don't believe the
information posted on it. It always says that Jakarta's air
pollution is moderate, but for me, the air is extremely
polluted," he said.
A resident of Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, Zakaria, shared
similar concerns, adding that there had been many times when he
noticed the board located in his neighborhood failed to function
properly.
"Sometimes, it is working and gives a (pollution) reading. But
other times, I notice that it's not working. It could be out-of-
order," he said.
The three signboards are stationed at Gambir, Kelapa Gading
and Pondok Indah in South Jakarta.
The signboards' readings indicated on Friday that Jakarta's
air quality was at a moderate level, with most of the air
pollutant levels in the green zone. Green indicates that the air
quality is at a safe level, while red shows pollution is at an
alarming level and black indicates a harmful level of air
pollution.
The head of the air pollution control division at the Jakarta
Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), Yusiono Anwar Supalal,
told The Jakarta Post that the readings given on the three
signboards were based on data obtained from six air pollution
monitoring stations sprawled across the city.
"So, the information on the board indicates Jakarta's current
air quality in general, not the air quality for the surrounding
area of the board," said Yusiono.
Jakarta has five fixed air monitoring stations at the East
Jakarta Mayoralty Office, the West Jakarta Mayoralty Office, the
Bung Karno sports stadium in Central Jakarta, Pondok Indah in
South Jakarta and Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, and one mobile
station at the BPLHD office on Jl. Casablanca in South Jakarta.
BPLHD director Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said that the annual
maintenance cost for these stations could exceed hundreds of
millions of rupiah. He declined to reveal the exact amount.
The air monitoring stations show that the city's air quality
is getting worse.
The readings categorizing the city's air quality as good,
Yusiono said, have plummeted steeply over the past three years to
5.75 percent from 20.55 percent in 2001 and 26.00 percent in
2000.
Pollution blanketed 31.23 percent of the area in 2002 compared
to only 8.49 percent in 2001 and zero percent in 2000, he added.
Yusiono blamed air pollutants from vehicle emissions as the
major reason for the rising level of pollution.
"This year, if no significant measures are taken to curb the
rapid increase in air pollution, air quality in the city could
hit a very unhealthy level," he warned.
Environmentalists have criticized the city administration for
not launching a public campaign to address the air pollution
levels in the city.
A clear example that was given was the administration's
failure to implement a program to ensure that car owners have
their vehicles' emissions checked at least once a year as
stipulated in Gubernatorial Decree No. 95/2000. The ruling was
scheduled to go into effect in 2001, but was postponed due to
poor preparation and low public awareness. It has since been
rescheduled after a one-year public awareness campaign, launched
in September 2002, ends.
It has not been made clear, however, whether the decree will
be fully implemented in September.