South Tangerang Tops Most Polluted Cities List in Southeast Asia
Translator
Ricky Mohammad Nugraha
Editor
Laila Afifa
Kamis, 18 Maret 2021 14:22 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - IQAir quality report in 2020 listed three Indonesian cities in the top 10 most polluted cities in Southeast Asia. The admission of South Tangerang, Bekasi, and Jakarta caught the attention of Greenpeace Indonesia.
“Another data that is quite intriguing from this report is that South Tangerang has become the most polluted city in Southeast Asia,” said Greenpeace Indonesia spokesperson for climate and energy campaign, Bondan Andriyanu on March 18.
The city in Banten Province with 1.8 million population topped the list after recording an average PM2.5 levels of 74.9 throughout 2020.
The cities below South Tangerang were Pai in Thailand, which recorded 53 PM2.5 average, Bekasi (48,1), followed by other Thai cities in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. Jakarta was listed as the seventh most polluted city with a score of 39,6 PM2.5 average.
The IQAir report stated that the PM2.5 emissions in Southeast Asian countries were dominated by construction and industrial activities, as well as transportation.
Indonesia’s pollution problem took a deep dive in 2018-2019 but slightly improved in 2020 due to lesser transport activities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
Read: Indonesia in Top 10 Countries with Worst Air Quality: IQAir Report
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