How clean is the air that we breaths?

Air pollution in Jakarta has been worsening every year. Various efforts to curb the problem have not brought significant results. The Jakarta Post's reporter Damar Harsanto looks into the issue.

Bad news for Jakartans. The air that we breathe is harmful to our health and might kill us if no significant measures are taken.

This news was conveyed through air pollution data, recorded by six air pollution monitoring stations placed across the capital.

"If we do nothing to curb air pollution, Jakarta's air quality will reach a very unhealthy level this year," said Yusiono Anwar Supalal, head of the air pollution control subdivision of the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) recently.

The "very unhealthy" level indicates that the air quality is extremely harmful to human health and other living beings, such as animals and plants that are exposed to it.

The city's air categorized as "unhealthy," jumped up to 31.23 percent in 2002 from 2001's level of only 8.49 percent and zero percent in 2000, he said.

Meanwhile, "good" air, which shows that the air quality will not negatively affect living beings, plummeted steeply to 5.75 percent at the end of last year, from 20.55 percent in 2001 and 26.00 percent in 2000.

The worsening air quality trend seems unaffected by government policies to phase out leaded gasoline in Jakarta.

The Jakarta administration phased out leaded gasoline in July 2001 in an effort to reduce air pollution from vehicular emissions. Lead is a highly toxic metal which can cause a range of adverse health effects like damage to the nervous system, cancer and digestive problems, particularly retardation in children below 10 years. The government had earlier planned to phase out leaded gasoline nationwide by 2003, but it is likely to be delayed until 2005.

The air quality in Jakarta also continues to worsen although the administration requires all owners of public transportation vehicles to take emission tests. The program has become a fiasco as its implementation has been marred by bribery by vehicle owners who prefer to pay a bribe for a roadworthy certificate to corrupt officials, instead of maintaining the engine or changing auto parts to reduce exhaust emissions.

A BPLHD survey in 2001 showed that 77.6 percent of public transportation and commercial vehicles in the city did not pass the emission tests. The majority of private cars, which at that time took the emission tests voluntarily, also failed the tests.

In fact, Gubernatorial Decree No. 45/2000 obliges private vehicles to have emission tests at least once a year.

The decree should have come into effect in August 2001, but in was delayed with a one-year period to allow for a public campaign and preparation, which only began in September last year.

BPLHD director Kosasih Wirahadikusumah, however, doubted that the ruling could be implemented this September.

He said that actually there was a regulation made jointly by the National Police chief and minister of finance that stipulates 39 items to be inspected prior to the issuance of the vehicle registration certificate (STNK) for commercial and public transportation vehicles, including the emission tests. But it was proven ineffective. This year, the emission test will be extended to private vehicles.

It is a public secret that vehicle owners can easily obtain an STNK by bribing corrupt police officials who are willing to gloss over several items in the inspection.

Vehicular exhaust emission, which has become an issue addressed by the administration as well as environmentalists, accounts for up to 70 percent of air pollutants in Jakarta, with industrial emissions accounting for the remaining 30 percent, nonetheless, no less toxic.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police Traffic Division chief Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Ishak asserted that vehicular emission would worsen owing to the rapid growth of vehicles operating in the already- congested streets.

Sulistyo revealed that the number of vehicles operating in the city grew by 5 percent a month.

His office recorded that by the end of 2002, there were in total 4.7 million of vehicles operating in the capital, consisting of 1.3 million passenger cars, 403,000 commercial vehicles, 315,000 buses and 2.6 million motorcycles. Other vehicles from outside the city which operate here, are not included.

"Jakarta streets are always heavily clogged in chronic traffic jams, which in turn lead to increased fuel consumption and higher emissions from vehicles traveling at low speed, deceleration, stopping, and acceleration," he said.

Sulistyo also regretted the absence of a policy to regulate the operation of old cars, which in most cases, had higher emission owing to poor maintenance.

"We have no policy like Singapore for instance, of imposing a higher tax on old cars to encourage people to shift to newer cars," said Sulistyo.

According to a BPLHD report in 2001, 78.13 percent of cars made in 1985, 67.32 percent of those made between 1986 and 1994, and 56.91 percent of those made in 1995 and after, did not pass the emission tests.

An urban landscape expert from Trisakti University, Rully Besari Budiyanti urged the administration to provide more green areas in the city to counter the effects of air pollution.

"With such an alarming level of air pollution, we need stronger efforts. One thing we can do, is to provide more green areas in the city to help reduce air pollution," said Rully.

She said a tree can absorb gas pollutants and neutralize them through its metabolism. It can also absorb small particles measuring less than 10 microns.

Rully however noted that the administration's target to have only a mere 13.9 percent of the total Jakarta area for green areas in 2010, was insufficient to neutralize the highly polluted air.

Environmentalists, including non-governmental organization Indonesian Forum for The Environment (Walhi), estimated that ideally, 30 percent of Jakarta's total area must be allocated for green areas.