TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Air quality forecaster AirVisual evaluates Jakarta as the world’s worst polluted city after it scored an air quality index (AQI) of 208 earlier this morning, June 26, at 08:33 Western Indonesia Time (WIB).

The capital’s environmental services agency (DLH) responded to AirVisual’s report through the agency’s laboratory head Diah Ratna Ambarwati, asserting that AirVisual should not hastily view the city’s entire air quality as the worst.

“As of today, the AQI is 208, which means it has dropped since the last AirVisual report on June 25, scored 240 at 08:00 in the morning. Where are their equipment placed; we are not aware of that. We compared it to the air quality monitoring station in Jakarta,” said Diah to Tempo in a phone interview on Wednesday, June 26.

According to Diah, the city has five air quality monitoring stations spread across Bundaran HI (DKI 1), Kelapa Gading (DKI 2), Jagakarsa (DKI 3), Lubang Buaya (DKI 4), and Kebun Jeruk (DKI 5).

Diah says that AirVisual calculates its air quality through detecting the PM2.5 particulate matter, while the particulate matter used as a benchmark is the PM 10 that is regulated under Environment Ministry’s Decree of 1997.

“We could yet produce an index, but the PM 10 has been done. Based on yesterday and today's data, every station [calculating] PM 10 reports [the pollution] as moderate. That’s what we call an air pollution standard index,” said Diah.

Diah argues that AirVisual is basically calculating it with United States’ air quality standards using the PM 2.5 as reference and suspects that the air quality forecaster is measuring the air quality from one location.

AirVisual ranked Jakarta in the top of the most polluted city list before Lahore in Pakistan, Hanoi in Vietnam, Dubai in the UAE, and Wuhan in China.

MOH KHORY ALFARIZI

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