Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Environment Ministry has directed industrial areas to install emission monitors on thousands of industrial chimneys across the Greater Jakarta area as part of efforts to reduce air pollution.
“As a control tool, we want all chimneys to meet the requirements that allow us to control them,” Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said during a review of PT Jakarta Industrial Estate Pulogadung (PT JIEP), East Jakarta, on Monday.
This step is necessary, he emphasized, considering that officially, there are around four thousand chimneys across 48 industrial areas in Greater Jakarta.
Emission monitors or continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS)—integrated systems that measure flow, dust, and concentration of air pollutants—can help determine the sources of pollution when there is a decline in air quality in Jakarta and its surrounding areas.
The ministry is currently monitoring activities in 48 industrial areas in Greater Jakarta as a mitigation measure to check the decline in air quality in the area.
According to a study conducted by the ministry, industrial areas account for 14 percent of the air pollutants in Jakarta. This pollution is mainly caused by the use of coal in a number of industries.
Minister Nurofiq warned of the possibility of industries facing legal sanctions if improvements are not made.
The Environment Ministry plans to impose coercive sanctions to push dozens of tenants or rental companies in two industrial areas that were reviewed earlier to make improvements.
Not only tenants, the managements of industrial areas have also been asked to carry out supervision to ensure the compliance of companies.
