Air quality in Pontianak

What is the current level of air pollution in Pontianak City?

Pontianak is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. The city sits on the equator in the delta of the Kapuas River. According to a census which was conducted in 2020, Pontianak had an estimated population of approximately 658,685 people.

During September 2021, Pontianak was experiencing a period of “Moderate” air quality with a US AQI reading of 82. This United States Air Quality Index number is calculated using the levels of six of the most prolific air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and both sizes of particulate matter, which are PM2.5 and PM10. It can then be used as the metric when comparing air quality in other cities around the world. If data is unavailable for all 6 pollutants, a figure can still be calculated by using what figures there are. For Pontianak, the only figure available was for that of PM2.5 which was 26.7 µg/m³. This level is over two and a half times the recommended target figure of 10 µg/m³ which was suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

With air pollution at this level, you would be advised to stay indoors as much as possible, closing all doors and windows to prevent the ingress of more polluted air. Those who are sensitive to poor air quality should try to avoid going outside unless absolutely necessary and even then limit the time of exposure and always wear a good quality mask. For up-to-date information as to the state of the air, you can consult the table at the top of this page or there is a downloadable app from AirVisual which is available for all operating systems which gives the state of the air in real-time.

Does the level of pollution stay the same throughout the year in Pontianak?

Looking back at the 2020 figures published by IQAir.com, it can easily be seen that Pontianak experienced “Moderate” air quality throughout the year. Figures need to be between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³ to be classified as such. The month with the best air quality was September with a figure of 14.3 µg/m³. The worst month was March with a reading of 25.6 µg/m³.

Historically, records were kept since 2019 when the air quality was fairly poor with a figure of 49.7 µg/m³ which is classified as being “Unhealthy for sensitive groups”. Any reading between 35.5 and 55.4 µg/m³ qualifies as such. The quality in 2020 showed a vast improvement when the figure was seen to be 18.8 µg/m³ which is back in the “Moderate” classification. This lower figure coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic when many vehicles were no longer in daily use in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.

Many factories and non-essential production units were also required to close which removed their emissions from the atmosphere and therefore, most cities revealed very good figures for air quality.

What is the source of the air pollution in Pontianak?

The forest and land fires that occurred in West Kalimantan Province have had a very serious impact on the local community and especially the people of Pontianak City. Smoke that arises and forest and land fires will look like clouds that are greyish white, brown and even blackish and the darker the colour of the smoke, the more concentrated the pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and PM10.

Efforts to maintain air quality in Pontianak City include monitoring the industry so that it follows the rules and does not pollute the environment. In addition, the exhaust gases released by motorised vehicles can reduce air quality and cause air pollution. For this reason, the Pontianak City Environment Service periodically conducts exhaust emission tests on motorised vehicles as an effort to maintain air quality.

What can be done to reduce air pollution in Pontianak?

The goal is to reduce the use of motorised vehicles so that air pollution caused by vehicle fumes can be minimized. Planting trees is also an effort to keep the air quality clean and healthy.

The role of businessmen, government and society to prevent and to handle field and forest fire is highly expected and needs to be increased, especially to prevent worse environment destruction in the future and to reduce other negative effects from field and forest fires by applying wise and clear law instrument to the field and forest fire criminals. It’s better to prevent than to extinguish the field and forest fires.

Law enforcement efforts must be carried out against land burning companies and review their permits. The President was asked to stop the issuance of new permits and evaluate the permits that have been granted. Including evaluating government supervision of the permits issued. Another thing is to restore critical forest areas and provide opportunities for forest processing and protection to communities around the forest.

What are the detrimental effects of air pollution in Pontianak on our health?

The effect from smoke and fog can cause damage to several things such as health which may cause several diseases such as respiratory inflammation, bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma and even eye irritation. The smoke and fog disturb transportation services in the air, land and sea; decreased business activity; tourism; and disturbed the education process for students. Besides that the smoke and fog also disturb relations between Indonesia and other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, because they have been affected by smoke from Indonesian field and forest fires, especially which happened in West Kalimantan Province.

Forest and peatland fires and the haze that hit the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra have exposed 10 million children to the risk of air pollution. Young children are especially vulnerable to air pollution because they breathe faster, while their physical strength and endurance are not perfect. It is estimated that there are 2.4 million children under five in the two areas affected by the haze and forest fires that have been going for several months in Indonesia.

Particles such as PM10 and PM2.5 are so small that they can act as gases. When inhaled, these particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and can cause irritation to the respiratory system and many other respiratory problems.