PRESIDENT JOKO WIDODO AND OTHER SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO IMPROVE THE HAZARDOUS AIR QUALITY OF THE CAPITAL JAKARTA AFTER FINDING THEM GUILTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL NEGLIGENCE IN A CIVIL LAWSUIT.

An Indonesian court has ordered President Joko Widodo and other senior government officials to improve the hazardous air quality of the capital Jakarta after finding them guilty of environmental negligence in a civil Lawsuit.

The citizen lawsuit was filed in 2019 against the President, the Minister of Health, Environment, and Home Affairs, as well as other prominent local leaders.

The thirty two plaintiffs said the lawsuit was a last-ditch attempt to compel authority to take actions against severe air pollution in the bursting metropolis of Jakarta and its surrounds, an area home to more than thirty million people.

In its verdict, Judges at the Central Jakarta District court said the actions of the defendants had contravened the law.