Fuel-saving minibuses join rally

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro has urged the public to be more fuel conscious in this era of depleting energy reserves.

Speaking at the National Monument (Monas) park yesterday, the minister officiated the send-off of 22 minibuses participating in the Laga Pantura 50 rally.

The event will award those minibuses with the best fuel-saving modifications. Wardiman said the rally could also be regarded as an effort of the private sector to bring the students closer to "the real world".

The winning minibuses, driven by student teams from 22 universities in Java, will use less than 50 liters of diesel fuel to cover a distance of 770 kilometers from Jakarta to Surabaya via Semarang. The amount of diesel fuel normally consumed for that distance is about 90 liters.

The buses are scheduled to reach Surabaya tomorrow.

The champion will receive an Isuzu Panther minibus, a cash prize of Rp 10 million (US$4,300) and a trophy from the Ministry of Education and Culture, said the rally's organizing committee chairman, Bintoro Tjitrowirjo.

The runner-up and second runner-up will also get trophies and cash prizes of Rp 5 million ($2,150) and Rp 2 million ($852), respectively.

In addition, a scholarship of Rp 600,000 ($260) will be given to the participants who finish without violating any rally rules.

A team from Gadjah Mada University told The Jakarta Post that the participants were only given three weeks to modify their vehicles.

"We were not allowed to alter the vehicle's body to make it more economical, but we were allowed to remove passenger seats," said Rosyid, the team's driver.

"We spent less than Rp 1 million to modify the engine to make it more economical," added Toscha, the team's navigator. (26)