Indonesia: Government to be sued for air pollution over Jakarta

Antara 18 Jun 19;

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) has said that 40 to 50 people, including university students and lecturers, advocates, researchers and businessmen, will file a citizen lawsuit against several government institutions due to air pollution in Jakarta.

"Ninety percent of the preparations have been completed, because it involves many people, including some 40 to 50 would-be plaintiffs," LBH public lawyer Ayu Eza Tiara said here on Tuesday.

The participants in the lawsuit, grouped in a movement called "Inisiatif Bersihkan Udara Koalisi Semesta (Ibu Kota), will file the citizen lawsuit (CLS) to demand the right to enjoy clean air.

Named in the lawsuit will be seven parties, notably the President, the Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister, the Health Minister, the Home Affairs Minister, the Governor of Jakarta, the West Java Governor, and the Banten Governor.

The lawsuit is expected to be filed in June.

Energy campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia Bondan Andriyanu confirmed that air pollution in Jakarta is getting worse due to there being numerous pollution sources.

"In addition to transportation, there are other sources of air pollution, such as burning garbage, which was detected by satellite images. It is, indeed, not inside the Jakarta territory, but the smoke blows everywhere," he said.
In July 2018, Greenpeace Southeast reported that a large percentage of the air pollution in Jakarta came from approximately 3.5 million cars and 14 million motorcycles plying the capital’s roads each day.

In an article entitled, “Jakarta’s Silent Killer” published on October 24, 2017, Greenpeace Southeast Asia wrote that Jakarta already suffered from dangerous levels of air pollution, primarily from traffic, residential emissions and coal fired power.

Based on data from the 2018 World Air Quality Report and interactive world’s most polluted cities ranking, compiled by IQAir, Jakarta is one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Greenpeace Southeast Asia, which helped prepare the report, warned that Jakarta risks overtaking Beijing as the most polluted capital city.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) last year, Jakarta’s air pollution was worse than Bangkok, but better than Manila.

(INE)


Reporter: Zuhdiar Laeis, Fardah
Editor: Eliswan Azly