City allows gas station operations in green areas
City allows gas station operations in green areas
JAKARTA (JP): The municipality has allowed 21 gasoline
stations built in green areas to continue operating, provided
they are equipped with environmentally friendly liquefied gas
filling facilities, Governor Sutiyoso said yesterday.
"The city has many environmental programs which must be
continued, such as the blue sky campaign to reduce air pollution
and the city's regreening program," he said after Budihardjo
Sukmadi was installed as the new deputy governor of development
affairs in the City Council offices yesterday.
"Both programs are important," he added.
He admitted that the 21 stations had been built on designated
green areas, but said: "We have our own regreening priorities and
currently, removing the gasoline stations from the green plots is
no longer a top priority."
"The city needs more gasoline stations selling liquefied gas
to promote the use of environmentally-friendly vehicles, which
will help reduce air pollution."
Sutiyoso made the remarks in response to questions about
contradictions in municipality decrees pertaining to fuel
stations built on green areas.
Gubernatorial Decree No. 646/1.824.133, dated 11 March, 1996,
contains an instruction to return the sites of gasoline stations
built on former parkland back to green plots, as part of the
city's regreening campaign.
As a result, three stations built on green plots have been
closed down and their sites returned to green areas. The stations
closed were Musi and Kalibesar Timur in West Jakarta and Lapangan
Banteng Selatan in Central Jakarta.
In the same year, however, the city issued Deputy
Gubernatorial Decree No.3558/1.853.2, dated Dec. 18, 1996, and
memorandum of understanding (MOU) No.1439/1996, which state that
21 fuel stations built in green areas would be allowed to
continue operating, provided they offered liquefied gas filling
facilities.
The MOU was between by Deputy Governor for Economic and
Development affairs, Hiswana Migas and PT Otogas Karya Pratama, a
privately owned company.
Under the agreement, the municipality receives Rp 15 per liter
of liquefied gas sold in each of the 21 stations.
There are a further 12 stations awaiting the issue of
operational permits under the same terms.
When asked why there was an overlap in the decrees, Governor
Sutiyoso said that he had to be flexible in applying regulations
under current monetary conditions.
"If I asked them (the station's owners) to move they simply
could not afford to at the present time."
Therefore, he said, it is better that they remain on the green
plots temporarily, provided they make a positive contribution to
the environment by building liquefied gas filling facilities.
"It is only temporary. At the right time, I will order them to
return their sites to green plots as they are supposed to be."
(edt)