According to a recent research, Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is the most polluted city in the world, and the president of the nation could have the cough to prove it.
President Joko Widodo has been suffering from a cough for weeks, according to ministers in the Southeast Asian nation, who also speculated that it may be tied to the growing air pollution in the 10 million-person city.
The information was announced just days after Swiss business IQAir published statistics demonstrating that Jakarta’s air quality had gotten significantly worse in recent weeks, ranking it as the worst in the world.
“President Joko Widodo has requested that action be taken in the form of concrete measures to combat air pollution within a week. After a parliamentary discussion between ministers on Monday in Jakarta, Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno told reporters that the man had been coughing for almost four weeks and claimed he had never felt this way.
According to CNN affiliate CNN Indonesia, Uno stated that physicians were still determining the source of Widodo’s cough but added that it might be connected to the deteriorating air quality.
The president was reportedly noted to be suffering from a cough the next day by Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who also stated that his ministry was speeding up examinations in the general populace to determine whether lung and respiratory illnesses like asthma had increased in severely polluted areas.
We are keeping an eye on the situation, Budi told the media.
He continued, “All reports about how air pollution affects public health will be coordinated to the relevant ministries and official agencies for examination.
According to experts, industry, coal-fired power plants, and traffic jams all contribute to the air pollution that has long plagued the Greater Jakarta area.
A group of 32 locals filed a civil case in 2019 against Widodo, often known as Jokowi, and a number of his cabinet colleagues, claiming he had not acted to reduce air pollution and maintain their right to clean air.
Two years later, the Central Jakarta District Court ruled in their favour, giving them a landmark win. It claimed that the government had broken the nation’s environmental protection rules and urged senior authorities to take more steps, including the creation of a national ambient air quality standard.
However, according to statistics provided by IQAir, a Swiss company that specialises in air quality technologies, the capital’s air quality has gotten notably worse in recent weeks, worsening to the worst in the world.
After reaching “unhealthy” air pollution readings nearly every day, Jakarta topped the company’s list of dirty cities on August 9. Since May, it has constantly been classified among the top 10 most polluting cities worldwide, according to IQAir.
In order to debate the deteriorating air quality and demand immediate government action, Widodo presided over a cabinet meeting on Monday.
He attributed the pollution to “excessive road traffic, a long dry season, and energy sources – mainly those using coal” and recommended solutions including requiring automobile emissions tests and promoting remote work as a way to lessen the issue.
A pollution fee, he added, was under consideration.
The Greater Jakarta Area’s air quality has been extremely poor for the past week, according to Widodo. In order to cut emissions, he continued, “Supervision must be exercised in the industrial and electricity generation sectors, and we also must educate the people).
After the discussion, Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno told reporters that the government was considering “concrete steps” to enhance Jakarta’s air quality over time.
“If we look at Beijing’s success in doing that, I am very confident that with the collaboration of local governments and businesses, we can also improve the air quality in Jakarta – it will have a long-term impact on public health,” he said, referring to China’s success in doing the same in its capital.
The government’s position has been praised by experts.
Bridget Welsh, a political analyst from the University of Nottingham, declared that air pollution is a significant issue in Southeast Asia.
Welsh stated that although there have been improvements in Jakarta in areas like public transport, these need to be intensified along with better enforcement against (fossil fuel) burning and controlled automobile use.
Although the government intended to move the capital to Nusantara, in the East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, she claimed that this move was still years away and would not resolve the pollution issue.
Moving to a different capital “will only temporarily offset the issue,” Welsh added. It is impossible to understate the enormous costs of Indonesia’s air pollution to human health.