Aside from the increasing threat of natural disasters as a consequence of environmental degradation, the 2005 State of the Environment report also warns of a looming crisis in public health, health experts and environmentalists say.
The annual report, which was first released in 2001, underlined the threat to public health due to worsening environmental conditions, causing various illnesses and the spending of billions of rupiah for treatment and medication.
"Health problems are the downstream indicator of what's happening in the environment," Health Ministry director for environmental health Wan Alkadri told The Jakarta Post.
He said the environment was among the four major aspects that determined the level of human health. The three others were behavior, health facilities and genetic factors. "Between 50 to 60 percent of sick people are sick because their environment is getting worse," he said.
Last year's State of the Environment report clearly showed that most Indonesians face health risks from polluted air, toxic water and tons of piles of solid waste, he said. The report said of the 10 major cities monitored, only Semarang in Central Java and Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan had 200 days of clean air in 12 months.
Jakarta had only 29 days, Bandung 40, Surabaya 21 and Medan 24 days of healthy air. On the remaining days, the cities' air contained harmful compounds, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter.
"Polluted air can cause health risks from respiratory problems to cancer," Wan Alkadri said, adding that it would also reduce the nation's productivity and boost spending on medicine.
He also pointed out that seasonal forest fires that produced harmful haze worsened the already poor air quality. The 2005 State of the Environment report said forest fires occurred in over 13,000 hectares of forest, in Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan.
"The haze increases the concentration of nitrogen, ash and scores of hazardous compounds in the air. This will cause acute respiratory infection," he said.
World Wide Fund for Nature executive director Mubariq Ahmad warned that besides polluting the air, forest fires also deforested much of Indonesia's pristine forests that are a vital component for regulating water supply.
The report said the country possessed 6 percent of the world's water supply; alternatively, 21 percent of the water supply for the Asia Pacific is here. However, forest and wetland conversion have degraded the nation's water supply. The report said groundwater had dropped to between 40 meters and 80 meters below the soil surface.
On the other hand, much of the country's rivers, one of the most vital water sources, were heavily polluted. Over 30 rivers across the country contained high levels of chemicals and human waste.
"If people consume contaminated water, they'll suffer diarrhea," Wan Alkadri said. Last year, 5,000 people in Indonesia suffered from diarrhea with a fatality rate of about 2 percent.
The report also highlighted the outbreak of bird flu, which has infected 54 people and killed at least 41 of them, as a consequence of negligence in spatial planning.
Deputy to the State Minister for the Environment Isa Karmisa Ardiputra said his office required poultry farms to be located hundreds of meters away from residential areas.
"Violations of spatial planning regulations have partly contributed to rampant spread of H5N1 because it allows the deadly virus to infect people more easily," he said.
Wan Alkadri warned,"should environmental conditions in the country worsen, health disasters will occur in the near future". (Tb. Arie Rukmantara)