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)