Jakarta – The Jakarta Environment Office has urged Jakarta residents to wear masks, especially when venturing outside their homes, as part of anticipatory measures against the recent deterioration in air quality to the unhealthy range.

"If you have to go outside your homes, always wear a mask because the air quality in Jakarta is currently not good," head of the Jakarta Environment Office, Asep Kuswanto, said on Wednesday.

He also asked Jakartans to carry out vehicle emissions testing every six months.

Based on data from the Environment Office's website, the number of vehicles that have carried out emissions testing in 2022 has so far reached 155,000.

Kuswanto also appealed to residents to use environmentally friendly fuels.

The air pollution in Jakarta has been caused by mobile and non-mobile sources, he said.

Mobile source air pollution includes air pollution caused by motor vehicles, while non-mobile source air pollution comes from industries and building construction, Kuswanto explained.

According to him, mobile source air pollution accounts for 75 percent of the air pollution in Jakarta. For that reason, he urged Jakarta residents to use public transportation and reduce the use of private vehicles.

Earlier, acting deputy for climatology at the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Urip Haryoko, reported that the concentration of PM2.5 had shot up to 148 ug/m3 on June 15, 2022, which reflected unhealthy air quality.

On June 16-17, the PM2.5 concentration was lower compared to on June 15, he added. "However, there was an increase in the PM2.5 concentration on June 18, reaching 147.5 ug/m3. On June 20, the PM2.5 concentration was again above 100 ug/m3," he informed.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1604782/jakartans-urged-to-wear-mask-as-air-quality-worsen