ADB grants US$600,000 for Jakarta

ADB grants US$600,000 for Jakarta

JAKARTA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday it has approved a US$600,000 grant to help combat the Indonesian capital's worsening air pollution.

The technical assistance grant of $600,000 will be used to prepare the "Blue Skies" project to promote clean vehicle fuel in Jakarta, an ADB statement said.

It said the United Nations ranks Jakarta, a metropolis of more than 10 million people, as the world's third most polluted mega- city after Mexico and Bangkok. Traffic fumes are the major source of air pollution.

Through a previous grant, ADB has been funding a local group called Friends of Clean Emission to draw up a plan for reducing vehicular emissions. The government has also been promoting compressed natural gas (CNG) as a clean fuel.

The ADB grant, provided by its Japan Special Fund, will help the government promote the use of CNG and map out a plan for strengthened emission testing and monitoring.

It will plan all elements of the necessary infrastructure for widespread CNG use.

Jakarta is one of the few major East Asian cities without a mass transit rail system. Elderly smoke-belching buses are the main source of public transport.--AFP