JAKARTA: The end of the Ramadan fasting period is marked by a week-long holiday in Indonesia. In Jakarta, this means that almost half the population leave the city to travel back to their hometowns and villages to celebrateUsually, this exodus is marked by a noticeable improvement in Jakarta’s air quality, with clear blue skies appearing as the road traffic all but disappears.holiday, Jakarta had the worst air quality in the world, according to AirVisual, an air quality monitoring app.
In fact, research from the University of Chicago shows that Jakarta’s air quality is now so bad that it’s cutting 2.3 years off the average resident’s lifespan. Out of 44 sub-districts in Jakarta, 16 list “upper respiratory infections” as the top cause of illness. All of this takes place on a daily basis in and around the Greater Jakarta region, affecting the lives of over 25 million people.