Agency proposes LPG to replace gasoline in cars

Agency proposes LPG to replace gasoline in cars

JAKARTA (JP): Local environmental officials here on Tuesday
warned that the introduction of unleaded fuel in the capital
should be only the first of many steps needed to reduce the
dangerous level of pollution in the city.

Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno, head of Jakarta's Environmental
Impact Management Agency (Bapedalda) praised the advent of
unleaded fuel, but pointed out that lead poisoning through
vehicle emissions only accounted for a small portion of the
problems caused by air pollution in the city.

Commending Sunday's official launch of unleaded gasoline as
"one step forward in the war to reduce air pollution",
Aboejoewono however stressed that more needed to be done if long-
term and significant effects were to be felt by residents of the
capital.

He pointed out that other dangerous substances such as carbon-
monoxide and hydro-carbons emitted as vehicle exhaust fumes were
as harmful, if not more so.

One of the main problems in reducing the level of pollution in
the city is the sheer number of vehicles on Jakarta streets and
the fact that many, perhaps even most, of these vehicles do not
have an adequate exhaust system to reduce the emission of
dangerous gases.

Aboejoewono noted that there were as many as four million
four- and two-wheeled vehicles in the Greater Jakarta area
fouling up the air daily.

He claimed that emissions from vehicles contributed to no less
than 67 percent of the overall pollution. This was much higher
than the many industrial plants located in the outskirts of the
city.

"It's no surprise that Jakarta is the world's third most
polluted city," he said during a seminar on pollution here.

Aboejoewono said that during the launching of unleaded fuel on
Sunday, the agency had proposed to the Minister of Mines and
Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro that the government should go one step
further by promoting the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to
replace gasoline in cars.

He added that the Agency was also proposing that two
Gubernatorial Decrees -- No. 95/2000 on vehicle emissions
inspection and maintenance, and Decree No. 1041/2000 on limits
for vehicle emissions -- be upgraded to bylaws.

Both decrees state that violators may be punished by up to two
months in jail and or a Rp 2 million fine.

However, inspections for emissions and the enforcement on
emission limits remain rare.

The Jakarta administration itself has set 2002 as the target
date for vehicles in the capital to comply with emission limits.

Meanwhile, state-owned company Sucofindo has been licensed to
endorse garages which can perform the tests and certify that a
vehicle's gas emissions are below the limit.

Without giving any explanation, Zafar D. Idham, the
operational director of Sucofindo, said it would cost between Rp
3 million and Rp 10 million for each garage to get a certificate
authorizing it to conduct such tests.

As part of the campaign to promote lower vehicle gas
emissions, Sucofindo on Monday will perform free tests for
compliance with emission targets on Monday outside its offices on
Jl. Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, between 9 a.m and 4 p.m.

Cars parked at the Ministry of Health offices in Kuningan and
City Hall on Monday will also be tested free of charge.

The campaign on Monday is part of the company's efforts to
publicize the need for vehicle owners to be more aware of the
issue.

Similar free tests will be conducted periodically until the
end of the year.(04)