'Ban private cars on Sundays'

'Ban private cars on Sundays'

JAKARTA (JP): An official in charge of living environment
affairs has come up with a novel but radical idea of making
Jakarta's major roads free of privately owned cars on Sundays.

Blaming the highly polluted air in Jakarta on the uncontrolled
growth in the number of cars, Aboejoewono, the city's chief of
the environmental office, said that to get rid of the problem,
the number of cars on the capital's roads should be gradually
limited.

"Air pollution has reached an intolerable level, so it's high
time we stopped the ever growing number of cars on the roads," he
told Antara on Saturday, adding that if possible all private cars
should be banned from Jakarta's major roads on Sundays.

Aboejoewono said that at present there are more than 1.8
million cars in the sprawling, teeming capital city of more than
10 million people.

"I'm aware that my proposal might raise controversy and draw
strong protests from various quarters, but this seems to be one
of the best ways to reduce the level of air pollution in the
city. I will appreciate anyone who can also raise proposals on
how to cope with this crucial air pollution problem," he said.
(bas)