Jakarta Named World’s Most Polluted City

Reuters

17:49 JST, August 16, 2023

JAKARTA (Reuters) — Indonesia’s capital Jakarta topped the list as the world’s most polluted city on Aug. 9, having consistently ranked among the 10 most polluted cities globally since May, according to data by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.

Jakarta, which has a population of over 10 million, registers unhealthy air pollution levels nearly every day, according to IQAir.

Asked about Jakarta’s pollution problem on Aug. 8, President Joko Widodo told reporters the solution would be to move the country’s capital city from Jakarta to Nusantara, which his government is currently building from the ground up on Borneo island.