ANN/JAKARTA POST – With the ASEAN Summit set for September, the Jakarta administration is implementing measures to address the issue of severe air pollution that has gripped the city in recent months.
The administration is mandating remote work arrangements for city employees and transitioning students to remote learning in a bid to tackle the challenge.
In light of Jakarta’s consistent presence among the top 10 most polluted cities worldwide since May, as reported by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir, the steps aim to mitigate the impact of air pollution on the populace.
Authorities have largely blamed the worsening air pollution on the prolonged dry season, which exacerbates pollution from motorised vehicles and industrial activities.
The city will start imposing the remote working policy for 50 per cent of its employees next week until October 21, said acting Jakarta Communication, Information and Statistics Agency head Sigit Wijatmoko.
“The arrangement will only apply to employees who don’t serve the public directly,” Sigit said. “We’ll make sure the remote working system won’t affect public services.”
The city employs around 200,000 people, of whom 30 per cent are civil servants.
The remote working policy will then be expanded to 75 per cent of city officials whose workplaces are in the vicinity of the ASEAN Summit venue, Sigit added. The summit is scheduled for September 5 to 7 at the Jakarta Convention Centre in South Jakarta.
The city would also order schools around the summit venue to implement remote learning for 50 per cent of their students during the bloc’s high-level meeting. Schools located around the Thamrin-Sudirman area and Menteng in Central Jakarta, as well as Kuningan in South Jakarta, would be affected by the policy.
“Students may fully return to schools once the summit is over,” Sigit said.
Aside from remote working and learning, the Jakarta administration is also working with the central government to ramp up efforts to control vehicle emissions in the city. The Environment and Forestry Ministry carried out on Thursday emissions tests on all employees’ vehicles.
The ministry will extend this test to every vehicle entering the ministry’s office in South Jakarta. Earlier this week, Environment and Forestry Ministry Siti Nurbaya Bakar announced that the Jakarta Police would carry out random checks on vehicles running in the capital.
Should the vehicle fail, or be found to not have undergone the emissions test, police officers will fine the driver. The government is also planning to require an emissions test as part of the process of obtaining a vehicle registration licence, the minister added.
