Many Opinions on Air Pollution Sources: Which Do Residents Believe?

Air pollution remains a public concern in Indonesia. Furthermore, there have been disagreements between the government and non-governmental organizations regarding the main causes of air pollution in the country.

The government initially claimed that the primary cause of air pollution in the Jabodetabek region (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi) was motor vehicles. However, the government later acknowledged that coal-fired power plants (PLTU) also significantly contribute to air pollution in the area.

"It's been reconfirmed that the figures show the sources of pollution or the decline in air quality in Jabodetabek are 44% from vehicles, 34% from PLTUs, and the rest from other sources, including households and other forms of combustion," said Minister of Environment and Forestry (LHK) Siti Nurbaya Bakar in an online press conference on YouTube Sekretariat Presiden, Monday (August 28, 2023).

Siti's statement contradicts previous statements from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), which had asserted that Jakarta's air pollution did not originate from PLTUs.

Previously, the Director General of Pollution Control and Environmental Damage (PPKL) KLHK, Sigit Reliantoro, stated that data from the Sentinel-5P satellite, containing information on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas, showed that emissions around the Suralaya PLTU in Banten did not spread to Jakarta. He attributed this to winds blowing towards the Sunda Strait.

"We conducted a study on PLTUs to determine whether or not they affect Jakarta. It has been confirmed that most of the emissions go towards the Sunda Strait, not towards Jakarta," said Sigit, as reported by CNN Indonesia, Sunday (August 13, 2023).

Conversely, the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) stated that a combination of industrial activities, transportation, and coal-fired PLTUs in Banten and West Java are responsible for the poor air quality in DKI Jakarta.

The head of Walhi DKI Jakarta's campaign, Muhammad Aminullah, said that smoke from coal-fired PLTUs in Banten and West Java is a contributing factor to Jakarta's recent poor air quality. According to Walhi, PLTUs contribute 20-30% of Jakarta's air pollution, while transportation contributes 30-40%.

"PLTUs have a significant potential to be a source of pollutants in Jakarta. There are PLTUs owned by PLN and also PLTUs from industrial facilities," said Aminullah, as reported by Katadata.co.id, Friday (June 9, 2023).

This aligns with Greenpeace research from 2017, which identified 10 coal-fired PLTUs within a 100-kilometer radius of the capital. These are distributed as follows: 7 operating and 3 under construction in Banten; 2 operating and 1 under construction in Bekasi; and 1 operating PLTU in West Java.

Similarly, Automotive Expert from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Yannes Martinus Pasaribu, believes that Jakarta's poor air quality is not solely due to the large number of motor vehicles in the capital, as motor vehicles only contribute around 30-40% of the pollution.

"Meanwhile, there are more than 100 industries within a 100 km radius of Jakarta, and about 10 coal-fired PLTUs that contribute around 20-30%," said Yannes.

According to a Kurious-Katadata Insight Center (KIC) survey, the majority of Indonesians believe that the main cause of air pollution is emissions from motor vehicles using fossil fuels (BBM). This is believed by 81% of respondents.

Furthermore, 40.8% of respondents stated that air pollution is caused by emissions from coal-fired PLTUs, and 40% of respondents blamed burning waste.

Another 17.1% of respondents considered air pollution to be caused by the dry season, followed by construction activities (11.1%), and other factors (1.3%).

Meanwhile, 4.4% of respondents said they did not know/did not answer this survey question.

The Kurious-KIC survey was conducted on 933 respondents spread across various regions in Indonesia, with 51.2% female respondents and 48.8% male respondents.

The majority of respondents were from Java Island (excluding Jakarta), at 62.1%, followed by respondents from DKI Jakarta (15%) and Sumatra Island (13.3%). Respondents from Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Bali-Nusa, and Maluku-Papua ranged from 0.2-3.5%.

Most respondents were in the 25-34 age group (36.3%), followed by the 35-44 age group (28.9%) and the 45-54 age group (16.9%).

Data collection was conducted from August 22-29, 2023, using the computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) method, with a margin of error of approximately 3.2% and a 95% confidence level.