Authorities urged to enforce vehicle emission standards

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Notorious as the second most polluted city in the world after Mexico City, Jakarta could have improved its air quality significantly and protected residents' health if the city had enforced emission standards, said an air pollution expert.

Ahmad "Puput" Safrudin from the Joint Committee for Leaded Fuel Eradication (KPBB) said on Saturday the city would have enjoyed 30 percent less pollution if the administration had pushed vehicles to comply with emission standards.

He estimated a 70 percent decrease in the pollution level if the administration adopted stricter emission standards.

"We could have seen such an improvement in a year or two if enforcement was implemented properly."

A study by air pollution researcher Shanty MF Syahril from the Pelangi Foundation and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) found it was possible to halve the capital's pollution level in 10 years.

Data from the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD Jakarta) shows that vehicular emissions contribute more than 80 percent of the city's pollution.

Jakarta has some four million motorized vehicles on its streets.

Long-term and continuous exposure to pollutants in emissions -- particularly carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates -- can severely affect a person's respiratory and nervous systems.

Under Traffic Law No. 14/1992, all vehicles are subject to routine checks for roadworthiness and emission levels, the latter of which is determined in State Minister of the Environment Decree No. 35/1993.

The decree sets maximum emission levels for gasoline-fueled automotive vehicles at 4.5 percent of CO and 1,200 parts per million (ppm) of HCs, while it limits the opacity of emissions from diesel-fueled cars at 25 percent.

Meanwhile, the State Minister of the Environment Decree No. 141/2003 stipulates all new vehicles must comply with the Euro 2 standard of a maximum 2.2 percent CO per kilometer by next January.

In Jakarta, Gubernatorial Decree No. 1041/2000 says that cars with injection systems cannot exceed emissions of 3 percent CO and 600 ppm HC.

The experts lashed out at the government for its lack of seriousness in enforcing emission standards, as it had recently delayed a review of the national standard.

Puput suspected the delay was due to objections from various stakeholders who would be affected by a stricter emission standard.

"It is common knowledge that the current standards underwent long deliberation, as the country's automotive firms were very reluctant to accept them," he said. "Fortunately, the Office of the State Minister of the Environment agreed to adopt the Euro 2 standard."

Puput added any emission standard revisions or adoptions would be useless unless they were implemented and supported fully.

Meanwhile, Shanty proposed another emission test that should be included in the amended emission standard.

"It should include checking the emission from moving vehicles in addition to the standard test for idle vehicles," she said, because emission was related to the velocity of a vehicle.

"Vehicular emissions are at their lowest at a maximum velocity of 40 kilometers per hour," she said. "Data from testing for emissions from moving vehicles is also crucial for designing the best traffic management for the city."

Shanty, however, acknowledged that the country did not have the proper equipment to conduct complete emission tests.