TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar rebutted the data issued by the US-based air quality observer Air Visual which saying Jakarta as the second polluted city in the world. She then questioned its measurement method.
According to Siti, the tools and method used in measuring the air quality were debatable. “In my opinion, the data is not right,” she said in the presidential palace complex, Jakarta, Friday, July 27.
Siti said she had ordered her staffers many times to summon NGOs or institutes saying the air quality in Jakarta was bad for a confirmation.
The Democratic Party politician said based on the air quality monitoring system installed in the area of Hotel Indonesia Roundabout, the air quality in the capital was worsened no longer than 20 days throughout 2017.
“If it says that the air quality in Jakarta is low and unhealthy, I think it’s odd because we must know what method it is used to measure it,” she said.
Earlier on July 24, Jakarta was ranked the second of world’s polluted city by Air Visual. The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the capital reached 182 which was 12 points below the most polluted city, Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Greenpeace Indonesia shared the data through its Twitter account @GreenpeaceID.
AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI
