President University held a webinar with the theme “Citizen Lawsuit and Jakarta’s Pollution” on Thursday, 30 April 2020, which was open for the public. The webinar discussed the dangers of air pollution for the community, especially in Jakarta.
“Air pollution is an invisible danger that needs special attention from all parties,” said Handa S. Abidin, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D., a lecturer of Law Study Program at President University in his opening remark.
Handa, who will teach the International Climate Change Law course in the next semester also explained that high levels of PM 2.5 (very small particulate matter) could affect the health of Jakarta residents, such as respiratory problems.
Currently, a citizen lawsuit related to air pollution in Jakarta has been filed. Alghiffari Aqsa, S.H., Managing Partner of AMAR Law Firm and Public Interest Law Office, explained that citizen lawsuit is a lawsuit filed by citizens to the state and has an impact on policy changes.
“Citizen lawsuit does not demand compensation, but demands changes in policy or actual activities related to the case submitted,” Alghiffari said.
Jakartan citizen’s lawsuit demands a new regulation for better regulation for air pollution. Also, demand for the improvement of air quality monitoring, such as the increasing availability of air monitoring stations is also delivered.
Alghiffari said, although the decision had not yet been issued, this citizen lawsuit has shown quite a good impact. This is indicated by the awareness and behavior change from the community/citizens to reduce air pollution.