TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Responding to the civil lawsuit on the capital’s pollution, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said that the people behind the lawsuit have also contributed to the declining air quality the city is currently enduring.

“Those people filing the lawsuit have also contributed to the air quality decline. Unless everyone rides a bicycle, it would be different if that’s the case,” said the Governor at City Hall in Central Jakarta today.

Anies further reasoned that the cause of Jakarta’s pollution levels comes from vehicular pollution that people use on a daily basis. He also said that the ever-increasing residue is also caused by the increasing number of personal vehicles and therefore, the governor calls for people to use public transport.

“The air quality is not only caused by one or two professions, but by all of us, including those that filed the civil lawsuit,” said Anies.

Previously, 31 Jakartans joined in IBU KOTA submitted the civil lawsuit and urged for a revision of regulation No.41/1999 on air pollution control and tighten the national ambient air quality standards that could sufficiently protect the health of its people, environment, and ecosystem.

Furthermore, the Jakarta governor acknowledged that the civil lawsuit is the people’s right to exercise and should be respected.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH

Read: Jokowi, Anies Baswedan Face Civil Lawsuit over Air Pollution