Jakarta's air pollution is alarming<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): No matter how good your car is, there is nothing
\nyou can do when it comes to traffic congestion. You have to stop
\nand wait until the vehicles in front of you move forward.<\/p>\n
Traffic jams occur chronically in the city during rush hours.
\nBeing caught in a traffic jam results in more than a waste of
\ntime, energy and money. Vehicular emission pollutes the
\nenvironment, affecting the health of humans, as well as other
\nliving beings.<\/p>\n
There are more than 2.5 million motorized vehicles in the 650-
\nsquare-kilometer area called Jakarta, the home of 10 million
\npeople. The number of vehicles increases by 14 percent a year
\ncompared to the four-percent increase of the length of the roads.
\nApparently, this is the main cause of the traffic congestions.<\/p>\n
The longer the traffic jams last, the worse the pollution is.<\/p>\n
"Vehicular emission is the biggest contributor of air
\npollution in urban areas," Margana Koesoemadinata, director of
\nair pollution control of the Environmental Impact Management
\nAgency, said.<\/p>\n
The Urban and Environmental Research Office, which
\ncontinuously monitors 10 areas in Jakarta, finds that air
\npollution in locations with heavy traffic is alarming.<\/p>\n
"There is a tendency for air pollution in the city to worsen,"
\nthe head of the office's laboratory, Rafdjon Rax, said.<\/p>\n
"The pollution in some areas of the city has not reached
\nalarming levels, but in the other parts, it is terrible," he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The roadside monitoring stations, which are installed on Jl.
\nBandengan, Jl. MH Thamrin, Pasar Baru, Pasar Senen and the Pulo
\nGadung areas, show that the levels of nitrogen oxide have passed
\nthe tolerable standard of 0.05 parts per million (see graphics).<\/p>\n
The dust elements have also exceeded the limit of 260 micro
\ngrams per cubic meter (see graphics).<\/p>\n
From April 1994 to March 1995, the highest level of dust
\nelements was found in Bandengan, West Jakarta. The level there
\nwas 93 percent higher than the tolerable limit. The lowest level,
\nwhich was 27 percent above the tolerable limit, was found on Jl.
\nThamrin, which has the best road structure.<\/p>\n
Unlike the roadside monitoring stations, the ambient
\nmonitoring stations show that the average levels of nitrogen
\noxide and dust elements are still below the tolerable limits.<\/p>\n
"But there are times when the levels of dust elements passes
\nthe limit, except in Pondok Gede (East Jakarta)," Rafdjon said.<\/p>\n
The ambient monitoring stations are installed the in Pulo
\nGadung, East Jakarta; Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta; Tebet, South
\nJakarta; Pondok Gede, East Jakarta, and Radio Dalam, South
\nJakarta, areas.<\/p>\n
The Urban and Environmental Research Office has also found
\nthat the level of lead in the air in most part of the city has
\nalso exceeded the annual international standard of 1 microgram
\nper cubic meter (see graphics).<\/p>\n
Unleaded fuel<\/p>\n
"An unleaded gasoline program is important to reduce the lead
\nelement in the air," Rafdjon pointed out.<\/p>\n
Unleaded fuel is an international standard fuel which contains
\nless than 0.013 grams of lead per liter.<\/p>\n
Many countries, especially developed ones, use unleaded fuel.
\nThis is not the case in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is planning to produce low lead carbonate level
\ngasoline under its Exor I brand, with a lead content of between
\n0.2 gram to 0.3 gram per liter.<\/p>\n
Before 1990 the lead content in the gasoline and fuel which
\nwas sold in Indonesia was between 0.7 gram and 0.84 gram per
\nliter. Up to last year, the government had been able to decrease
\nthe lead content to 0.44 gram per liter.<\/p>\n
Lead can affect the development of children's brains and
\nnervous systems. The World Bank stated in its 1993 development
\nreport that elevated lead levels in children can result in poor
\nIQ rankings, poor school performance and behavioral difficulties.<\/p>\n
About 1.3 billion urban residents worldwide are exposed to air
\npollution levels above the recommended limits, according to the
\nreport.<\/p>\n
A study by New York University shows that air pollution may be
\nresponsible for 50,000 deaths annually in the United States or
\nmore than 2 percent of all deaths nationwide. Results of the
\nstudy were presented last month.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has long realized the danger of air pollution. In
\n1991, Emil Salim, who was state minister of environment and
\npopulation at the time, proposed the ambitious Blue Sky Program
\nto curb air pollution. Under this scheme, all vehicles were to
\nregularly undergo a smog check using plain white paper, which was
\nsupposed to be put near the muffler. A vehicle was regarded to be
\npolluting the air if the paper became black seconds after the
\nengine was started.<\/p>\n
The proposed smog check, however, did not work.<\/p>\n
In 1992 the government introduced a new traffic law which
\nrules that anyone violating the emission limit can face a maximum
\ntwo-month jail term or a Rp 2 million fine. But this has not been
\nenforced. In response to strong public protests over the stiff
\npenalties stipulated in the law, the government decided to
\nimplement it by stages.<\/p>\n
Jakarta, one of the most polluted cities in the country,
\nissued Decree No. 1236 in 1990 on the need for smog checks.<\/p>\n
"The decree stipulates that all vehicles, including privately
\nowned cars, should comply with the regulation by the year of
\n1995," Executive Director of the Indonesian Center for
\nEnvironmental Law Mas Achmad Santosa said.<\/p>\n
Many vehicles, however, continuously pollute the air with the
\nthick black smokes discharged from their mufflers.<\/p>\n
He observed that the authorities are dragging their feet in
\nthe implementation of the regulation mainly due to the poor
\ncoordination among the government agencies involved. The lack of
\nequipment to carry out the emission test also has hampered the
\nimplementation of the decree, he added.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has two vehicle testing stations, which only test
\nabout 273,000 vehicles annually, while there are about 500,000
\ncommercial vehicles which must be tested, according to city
\ncouncilor Bandjar Marpaung.<\/p>\n
Two private companies are scheduled to open two new vehicle
\ntesting centers in the city in the near future.<\/p>\n
Careful<\/p>\n
Head of the municipal office of the Urban and Environmental
\nResearch Office H.M. Ali Rozi said the city administration was
\nvery careful in the enforcement of the smog check regulation.<\/p>\n
"Even if we detect motorists with cars that are polluting the
\nair, then what's next? Will people be able to afford the
\nmaintenance? How about the auto workshops? Do they have adequate
\nequipment to reduce the pollution?" Rozi asked.<\/p>\n
He said the government is drafting the necessary regulations
\nfor the implementation of the smog check decree, which also
\ninvolves the private sector.<\/p>\n
"We hope that by next year we will have regulations which
\nsynchronize with the national-level ones."<\/p>\n
"Well, this is a long-term goal," he added.<\/p>\n
Rozi, as well as Margana, said that various aspects must be
\ntaken into consideration before the government can enforce the
\nemission test regulation.<\/p>\n
"This has much to do with socio-economic aspects. We can't
\njust arrest polluting motorists and punish them," Margana said.<\/p>\n
Reducing the emissions would cost a lot and not all people
\nwould be able to afford it, he said. Therefore, even though the
\ngovernment is aware that almost all old vehicles pollute, they
\ncannot just be phased out.<\/p>\n
"We will concentrate on new cars," he said.<\/p>\n
Cars sold in Indonesia discharge more emission compared to the
\nones sold in developed countries, even though they are produced
\nby the same manufacturers. The reason why Indonesia buys such
\ncars is because they are cheaper, according to both Margana and
\nRozi.<\/p>\n
It is clear that reducing air pollution is easy, but at the
\nsame time also costly. Considering the danger of pollution, all
\nnecessary efforts should be taken to curb it.<\/p>",
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