DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has stated that there are millions of citizens of the capital have respiratory tract infections due to air pollution.
The medical costs to treat the infections are estimated at Rp6.8trillion.
“Experts say that 5.5 million cases of diseases are caused by air pollution per year in Jakarta. That’s nearly 11 cases every minute,” Anies said.
Because of this, he stated that his team had collaborated with a number of parties in order to improve air quality in Jakarta. There are three key aspects to controlling air pollution, namely, science, policy, and communication.
“Over the past few decades, the level of air pollution in cities has increased, along with economic growth. Just like in Jakarta, pollution is also dangerous to our health according to the international standard guidelines from the WHO,” said Anies.
In addition, he also stated that a number of major cities in the world have proven that good air quality can have an impact on economic growth.
“In the end, economy and ecology come from the same route. We must ensure that economic development and ecological activities can coexist,” Anies concluded.
Source: Liputan 6