Indonesia's New Capital City Not Free from Pollution If Still Relying on Coal: Greenpeace

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Greenpeace Indonesia's forest campaigner Arie Rompas said that Indonesia's new capital city, Nusantara, would not be safe from pollution if the city still rely on coal as the main source of electricity. Even though sources of pollution from transportation and factories could be suppressed, he said, forest fires could still threaten the new capital, or IKN for short.

"Just because the IKN is characterized as a smart forest city, it does not mean that it will not be affected by air pollution," he said on August 8.

President Joko Widodo or Jokowi on August 7 said that the air pollution in Jakarta could be solved by relocating the capital to Nusantara (IKN) in order to shift the burden to the new capital.

Greenpeace Indonesia rejected the statement, saying that capital relocation is not a solution. According to Arie, sources of pollution must be suppressed with more progressive policies, including carrying out court rulings on class action and individual lawsuits against the government concerning Jakarta's air pollution.

Jokowi also said that another way to reduce Jakarta's pollution is by continuing to push for the construction of mass transportation, such as the MRT, and LRT to fast trains in Jakarta and its surroundings, to be completed soon.

Amelia Rahima Sari

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