Jakarta residents to sue govt over toxic levels of air pollution

A group of Jakarta residents are planning to file a lawsuit against the Indonesian government over toxic levels of air pollution in the capital and its satellite cities, which together form one of the largest megalopolises in the world.

The civil suit could be filed in the coming days and will be driven by a coalition of NGOs accusing the government and provincial authorities managing the cities of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi of violating environmental laws, according to promoters of the initiative on Tuesday.

In a letter of notification - a legal requirement for such lawsuits - 58 residents of Jakarta Metropolitan Area held Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the ministers of health, interior and environment, and the provincial governors of Banten, Jakarta and West Java responsible for the high levels of pollution, Efe news reported.

The document presented in December 2018 accuses the government of not implementing required air pollution checks on vehicles and industries and demanded a plan of action for bringing down pollution levels in each province.

“We are still waiting for a response from the government,” said activist Bondan Andriyanu of Greenpeace Indonesia, a non-profit supporting the lawsuit.

Air pollution levels in Jakarta have increased by more than 50 per cent from PM2.5 levels of 29.7 in 2017 to 45.3 in 2018, according to air quality index platform Air Visual.

First Published: Jul 03, 2019 11:18 IST