Antique car owners hold rally

The owner of an antique car (picture above) drives past the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Sunday morning on his way to a protest against a proposal to ban old cars from Jakarta's streets.

Hundreds of antique car owners from the Indonesia Antique Cars Fan Association (PPMKI) drove from the National Monument park to Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin as part of the protest.

Car owners from several car clubs such as VW, Morris, Holden and Mercedez Benz also criticized the government's plan not to extend the car ownership documents of antique vehicles.

"Don't blame antique cars for using up a lot of fuel and polluting the air because the owners rarely use the cars. We use them once or twice a week," said Roy Suryo, a PPMKI member.

The government and city police announced earlier they were considering banning old cars from Jakarta's streets to reduce energy consumption and pollution in the capital.

Roy, a telecommunications expert, said most antique cars used less fuel than newer vehicles.

"A Morris, for examples, uses one liter of fuel for every 15 kilometers, while a new car uses one liter for seven or eight kilometers," he said.

He said the PPMKI would write a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to protest the proposed ban.