Antara, Jakarta – Jakarta Acting Governor Heru Budi Hartono claimed that all programs and policies to tackle air pollution and improve the city's air quality are effective. "Because we all [contribute]. All [programs] are effective," Heru Budi said at the City Hall, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.
Heru made the statement in response to photos of the capital city with brighter and less foggy skies posted on the official Instagram of the Jakarta Environmental Agency.
According to him, all the programs that have been and are still being implemented by the regional government, central government, and private sector could slowly curb air pollution.
The blue skies, he said, are not only thanks to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), which launched the Weather Modification Technology program through the water mist spraying. "It takes part in the fight against pollution," said Heru.
BNPB in tandem with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the Indonesian National Army (TNI), and other related parties are striving to reduce air pollution using the water mist spraying method.
"The operation was carried out from Monday (Sept. 4) to Monday (Sept. 11) with a flight duration of 82 hours and 50 minutes and carrying 70,500 liters of water that was sprayed to create artificial evaporation in the skies of Jakarta," the BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement in Jakarta, Tuesday, adding that the TMC program was conducted using two Cessna aircraft.