Pollution in IndonesiaBy: Nate Dodge and Brandon Tepper
Air pollution is a big problem in big cities, including Jakarta, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia. The pollution is due to increased human activities, population growth, increasing number of industries, and transportation. In big cities such as Jakarta, transporation is the main source of this ambient air pollution. Ambient air pollution has significant impact on the health of the 10 million people living in the city. Fourty-six percent of all illness cases in Jakarta were respiratory related.
This picture shows how the increasing number of indutries is rapidly polluting the air in Indonesia.
Rapid urbanization over the last 20 years has seen a rise in untreated household sewage, solid waste and industrial effluents, affecting public health and threatening the livelihood of poor fishing families. A new industry has sprung up - collecting the plastic waste in the river for recycling.
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Timeline
August 1995 - A report in the local paper, the Manado Post, quoted fishermen as saying pollution had caused a great reduction in fish catches.
August 2004 - The Indonesian National Police announced their water tests, conducted by their own laboratory, showed Buyat Bay had been polluted with high levels of mercury and arsenic.
March 2007 - Indonesia’s largest environmental organization, Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI), launched a civil suit against PTNMR over alleged pollution from the disposal of mine tailings into Buyat Bay.
Who is Involved?
The Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating (PROPER) was an innovative attempt to control the problems associated with pollution under the umbrella of the Government of Indonesia’s Environmental Impact Agency (BAPEDAL). PROPER was launched in June 1995 with support from the World Bank, USAEP/USAID, and Canadian and Australian development agencies. The program’s objective is to act as a regulatory mechanism which can promote and enforce compliance with pollution control standards, encourage pollution reduction, introduce the concept of “clean technology,” and promote an environmental management system through the use of incentives and transparency. PROPER endeavors to raise awareness among people regarding waste management regulations, as well as encouraging business communities to comply with pollution control standards.
The “Clean River Program,” better known as PROKASIH, was announced on June 19, 1989. This program established interagency teams within individual provinces. These “PROKASIH teams” included representatives from a range of agencies, including the regional development planning board (BAPPEDA), the public works department, the health department, environmental study centers, and environmental laboratories. They were responsible for several activities, including:
- selecting specific rivers or portions of rivers where concerns over water quality were the greatest
- identifying the industrial facilities that were the most significant polluters
- drawing up pollution-reduction agreements to be signed by provincial Vice-Governors and polluting facilities
- collecting data on pollution concentrations in facilities’ effluent and in receiving waters and reporting those data to the Ministry.
Human Environment Interaction
Human-environment interaction basically describes all relationships between people and their environment, from disturbance, to management. In Indonesia's case, humans have interacted with their environment in a very negative way. They have not been responsible in disposing their waste and because of this it ends up in rivers or in the air. Indonesia currently has a serious issue on their hands that desperately needs to be taken under control.
Indonesia's Top 3 Environmental Concerns are: Air Pollution (71%), Global Warming (45%), and Water Pollution(40%).
Who it Affects
The air pollution directly affects everyone living in the polluted cities. With a heavy smog sitting over a city, many people are succeptible to lung cancer and bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. The polluted waters are taking away the jobs of fishermen because they are not able to catch enough fish to make a living. With trash filled lakes and rivers, these poor fishermen have little to no chance of catching enough fish to make money. The pollution is destroying entire ecosystems which then throw off the balance of our environment and the economy.
Air pollution is a big problem in big cities, including Jakarta, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia. The pollution is due to increased human activities, population growth, increasing number of industries, and transportation. In big cities such as Jakarta, transporation is the main source of this ambient air pollution. Ambient air pollution has significant impact on the health of the 10 million people living in the city. Fourty-six percent of all illness cases in Jakarta were respiratory related.
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Timeline
August 1995 - A report in the local paper, the Manado Post, quoted fishermen as saying pollution had caused a great reduction in fish catches.August 2004 - The Indonesian National Police announced their water tests, conducted by their own laboratory, showed Buyat Bay had been polluted with high levels of mercury and arsenic.
March 2007 - Indonesia’s largest environmental organization, Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI), launched a civil suit against PTNMR over alleged pollution from the disposal of mine tailings into Buyat Bay.
Who is Involved?
The Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating (PROPER) was an innovative attempt to control the problems associated with pollution under the umbrella of the Government of Indonesia’s Environmental Impact Agency (BAPEDAL). PROPER was launched in June 1995 with support from the World Bank, USAEP/USAID, and Canadian and Australian development agencies. The program’s objective is to act as a regulatory mechanism which can promote and enforce compliance with pollution control standards, encourage pollution reduction, introduce the concept of “clean technology,” and promote an environmental management system through the use of incentives and transparency. PROPER endeavors to raise awareness among people regarding waste management regulations, as well as encouraging business communities to comply with pollution control standards.The “Clean River Program,” better known as PROKASIH, was announced on June 19, 1989. This program established interagency teams within individual provinces. These “PROKASIH teams” included representatives from a range of agencies, including the regional development planning board (BAPPEDA), the public works department, the health department, environmental study centers, and environmental laboratories. They were responsible for several activities, including:
- selecting specific rivers or portions of rivers where concerns over water quality were the greatest
- identifying the industrial facilities that were the most significant polluters
- drawing up pollution-reduction agreements to be signed by provincial Vice-Governors and polluting facilities
- collecting data on pollution concentrations in facilities’ effluent and in receiving waters and reporting those data to the Ministry.
Human Environment Interaction
Human-environment interaction basically describes all relationships between people and their environment, from disturbance, to management. In Indonesia's case, humans have interacted with their environment in a very negative way. They have not been responsible in disposing their waste and because of this it ends up in rivers or in the air. Indonesia currently has a serious issue on their hands that desperately needs to be taken under control.Who it Affects
The air pollution directly affects everyone living in the polluted cities. With a heavy smog sitting over a city, many people are succeptible to lung cancer and bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. The polluted waters are taking away the jobs of fishermen because they are not able to catch enough fish to make a living. With trash filled lakes and rivers, these poor fishermen have little to no chance of catching enough fish to make money. The pollution is destroying entire ecosystems which then throw off the balance of our environment and the economy.Works Cited
http://www.buyatbayfacts.com/what_happened/timeline.aspxhttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060823143942AAMT9XF
http://www.eco-business.com/press-releases/only-1-in-10-indonesians-understand-renewable-energy-despite-deep-concern-about-air-pollution-2/
http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall07articles/addressing-ambient-air.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/dec/05/water-pollution-citarum-river
http://www.netglobers.com/health/
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201010/3046764.htm?desktop