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.