A bright idea

A bright idea

From Suara Karya

Sometime ago I read an article about kancil (small vehicles) in Suara Karya. The kancil -- a gas-fueled vehicle capable of seating four passengers -- is slated for mass production to replace the bajaj (three-wheeled motorized vehicle). In the 1990s, a similar idea was put forward, but this idea, too, was one with the wind.

I share the view of the Jakarta administration that the bajaj should be replaced, mainly because of the noise and air pollution associated with the vehicle.

Apparently there is little we can do about it. Our state budget is too limited to mass produce the kancil. Given this fact, I would like to suggest that the government only replacing the engines of bajaj. By so this, the government wouldn't have to bother too much about the budget, and at the same time part of noise pollution problem would be resolved. In addition, bajaj drivers need not worry about losing their jobs. Governor Sutiyoso should hold some sort of a competition among university students and private industrial companies to design a "quiet", environmentally friendly engine suitable to replace the noisy, aging engines of the bajaj. The engines the bajaj currently run on have never undergone any changes, and only add to the already polluted skies of Jakarta.

JERRY HARTONO

Tangerang, Banten