Pramono Says Air Pollution Control Cannot Be Solved by Regional Regulation Revision Alone

Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung has said that controlling air pollution in the capital cannot be achieved merely by revising existing regulations. The main problem, he said, lies in jointly controlling emission sources across the Jakarta agglomeration area.

The statement was made by Pramono in response to a push from the Committee for the Phasing Out of Leaded Petrol (KPBB) for Regional Regulation No. 2 of 2005 on Air Pollution Control to be revised.

KPBB considers that the regulation, which is more than two decades old, needs to be adjusted to Jakarta’s development and the emergence of new emission sources from the transport, industrial, construction and community activity sectors.

Pramono said Jakarta’s pollution problem cannot be viewed solely from the administrative area of DKI Jakarta. Emissions from buffer zones also have the potential to affect air quality in the capital.

“With the old bylaw, the main problem is actually not the bylaw. The main problem is how coordination works in the Jakarta agglomeration,” Pramono said in South Jakarta on Thursday (20/8).

Pramono specifically highlighted industries in buffer zones that still use coal as an energy source. According to him, controlling these emission sources would have a greater impact on improving Jakarta’s air quality.

“Especially for areas that still allow their industries to use coal fuel. If that were not permitted, I am sure the impact would be far greater,” he said.

He said various policies implemented by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government, from developing electric vehicles to encouraging people to switch from private vehicles to public transport, would not fully solve the problem if emissions from suburban areas were not controlled.

“So, whatever the government does within Jakarta by making electric cars, improving transport, and getting people who used to use private transport to switch to public transport, in my view it will not fully solve the problem,” he said.

Therefore, Pramono urged that pollution control be carried out in an integrated manner across the agglomeration area, including for industries that still use coal-fired power plants.

“If in suburban areas or areas surrounding Jakarta industries are still allowed to use coal-fired power plants, that is one of the main sources,” he stressed.