October 5, 2020
Air pollution in Jakarta
In the recent years Jakarta has infamously reached the top 10 of most polluted cities in the world. Due to an increase in population, climate change, modernization and industrialization of Indonesia and Jakarta. The main sources of its pollution are vehicle emissions, heavy industry, burning of organic matter, construction and dust, and its citizens now have carry the burden. After large increases in disease, deaths and economic costs the cities regulators have finally accepted that measurements have to be taken and, together with NGO’s, taken action in the form of measurements and a roadmap to 2030. In the plan, vast infrastructural projects are proposed to improve connectivity in the city and encourage the use of public transport. Furthermore, plans to implement and enforce emission standards and regulations for private vehicles and heavy industry are proposed. Finally, they plan to handle Jakartas large waste crisis in the suburbs and informal housing, which is currently mostly burned, as citizens see no other way to dispose of it. The regulators plans are ambitious, and will certainly improve the standard of living for the whole city after completion. However, during its implementation it will have vast consequences for thousands of citizens as these infrastructure projects will require the demolition of thousands of houses. If new regulations and policies are too restrictive it can harm the lower-class citizens and economic growth. A final problem is finance, the plans are not only ambitious, they are also incredibly expensive. It will require the cooperation of the private and public sector, as well the intergovernmental cooperation between different branches to ensure these plans can be successful. Fortunately, the air quality is easy to measure, as the stations used in previous air quality monitoring studies, together with the enforcement of emission standards can be used to monitor how the air quality will increase as each phase of the plan is implemented. A careful balance and timeline has to be crafted to implement new regulations and infrastructure projects, but in the end, the citizens will reap the benefit.