Foul air may delay toll roads

Foul air may delay toll roads

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Will more toll roads really help sort out the city's congestion
woes, or will they only lead to more pollution?

This question finally seems to have occurred to Governor
Sutiyoso as he is shortly to assign the newly-established Jakarta
Transportation Council (DKT) to review the idea of constructing
new toll roads.

Late in May, the city administration said it planned to
construct six new innercity toll roads. It is estimated that the
total cost of the new roads will be at least Rp 23 trillion
(US$2.4 billion).

The envisaged turnpikes will link Bekasi and Kampung Melayu,
Kampung Melayu and Tomang, Pasar Minggu and Casablanca, Rawabuaya
and Sunter, Sunter and Pulogebang, Kemayoran and Kampung Melayu,
Ulujami and Tanah Abang, and Kampung Melayu-Tomang-Duri Pulo.

"The council will review whether more, fewer or none at all
are needed," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on air
pollution control, held on Thursday.

The governor said that the number of motor vehicles in the
capital had reached 4.5 million, with 600,000 more coming into
the city from satellite towns during the day.

Furthermore, an average of 269 new vehicles hit the city's
roads every day, compared to 138 per day in 2003.

DKT chairman Sutanto Soehodho said that constructing new
highways instead of prioritizing mass public transportation would
be counterproductive to both city's macro transportation plan and
the implementation of the new pollution control bylaw.

The plan envisages the development of a proper mass
transportation system, the limiting of the number of motor
vehicles, and the expansion of the city's road network.

Sutanto said that prioritizing a variety of public
transportation projects would provide greater benefit for the
majority of Jakarta's residents, rather than just the owners of
private vehicles.

Motor vehicles are the main contributors to air pollution in
the city, accounting for about 70 percent of pollutants,
including carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide.

High concentrations of these substances cause various health
problems, ranging from minor ones such as eye irritations to
serious ones such as cancer and brain-cell damage.

The Air Pollution Control Bylaw, which is due to come into
effect in February next year, requires all vehicles to undergo
emission tests twice a year, and the presentation of an emission
test certificate for vehicle registration purposes.

The bylaw also requires that unleaded gasoline be used in
privately owned cars and compressed natural gas in public
transportation vehicles. Smoking will also be prohibited in
enclosed public places.

Implementation of the new regulations will require
familiarization among the public, the training of enforcement
personnel, and the putting in place of the necessary
infrastructure and procedures for oversight and evaluation
purposes.

The Jakarta Environmental Management Agency and non-
governmental organizations working in the environmental field
have come up with 90 detailed programs for the implementation and
familiarization of the bylaw, but are still developing a
timeframe and task distribution scheme. (003)