4.3 million cars will jam Jakarta streets by 2010
4.3 million cars will jam Jakarta streets by 2010
JAKARTA (JP): Almost 4.3 million vehicles will be jamming
Jakarta's streets by 2010, according to a recent survey. This
means that one person in every three will have a private vehicle.
The prediction was based on the increase in the number of
vehicles between 1990 and 1993, a rise from 1.6 to 2.1 million.
It came in a 1994 study on the quality of the city's air and
its effects conducted by the Jakarta city administration together
with the Metropolitan Environmental Improvement Program, a scheme
co-sponsored by the World Bank and the United Nations
Developmental Program.
It was released to coincide with World Environment Day, which
falls today.
By 2010, the emission of nitrogen oxide on the city's roads is
estimated to be 6,416.50 kilograms per year or around 17.53 kg
daily, according to the report. The current emission is 2,41
kilograms per day.
Latest data shows many areas are contaminated with a high
concentration of various pollutants, including lead, dust, and
nitrogen oxide. Too high a level of these substances in the body
weakens the immune system, leading to lung irritation, bronchitis
and pneumonia, among other ailments. These are made worse by
inhaling other pollutants.
North Jakarta was found to have the most polluted air, the
study found.
Jakarta, now home to 9.3 million residents will house at least
11.8 million residents by 2010, the study predicted.
The number of private vehicles currently in Jakarta is higher
than that of public vehicles. There are more than 1.8 million
private cars, compared to 700,000 public transportation vehicles.
The study also claimed that a country's economic growth
contributes greatly to pollution.
By 2010, the annual fuel consumption level is expected to be
5,300,000 kiloliters of premium gasoline and 6,900,000 kiloliters
of diesel.
The current ratio of the number of residents to the number of
vehicles is 3.82.
The study also encourages the development of the public
transport system as a solution to prevent further air pollution.
Dust pollution in the air is reported to have caused 449,000
cases of chronic bronchitis and asthma a year, while lead is
reported to have caused a total of some 62,500 cases of heart
disease and high-blood pressure.
The city's environment and monitoring study office shows that
transport contributes 67.10 percent of the city's air pollution,
the industrial sector 18,9 percent, with 3.88 percent being
caused by the burning of garbage and 11.12 percent by domestic
activities.
The 1992 law on Traffic and Land Transportation stipulates
that all vehicles must undergo an emission test. However, in the
first phase the government decided to test only public transport
vehicles.
Last month the city environment bureau announced that next
week it would hold the first phase of an operation to test
vehicle emissions as part of a city-wide clean air campaign. (14)