Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Environment Office has established a forum that will encourage collaboration among several parties to support air quality improvement in the capital city.

"This forum is expected as a collaboration place for the community and various parties to contribute (to air quality improvement) through ideas and real actions," the office's coordinator for counseling affairs and public relations, Yogi Ikhwan, remarked here on Tuesday.

According to Ikhwan, the Jakarta Air Quality Forum has been formed following a discussion on monitoring Jakarta's current and future air quality.

The forum will involve the University of Indonesia, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and other academic institutions; the Environment Office; the Environment and Forestry Ministry; the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG); and non-governmental organizations, including Nafas and Bicara Udara; as well as civil society organizations, such as Dilans and Difapedia.

The involvement of these groups is aimed at ensuring that the policies and steps taken accommodate the needs of different groups of society.

According to Ikhwan, the forum’s establishment is a follow-up to the large-scale social collaboration forum that was formed in September 2022.

The social forum is divided into three clusters, namely waste, climate change, and air and water.

There are several working groups in the clusters, such as for waste reduction and waste handling.

These groups are expected to provide inputs to the Jakarta provincial government in managing the environment and supporting the government's work plan through independent actions and collaborations.

On June 15 this year, Jakarta's air quality index reached 188, the worst in the world, according to IQAir.

Meanwhile, based on IQAir data recorded at 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Jakarta's air quality was in the moderate category, with an index reading of 68 and PM 2.5 recorded at 20 μg/m3.

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Translator: Dewa W, Kenzu
Editor: Suharto
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