Government to free Indonesia from leaded gasoline by 2005

Government to free Indonesia from leaded gasoline by 2005

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After successfully introducing unleaded gasoline in Jakarta and
surrounding towns, the government is now eying a more ambitious
goal -- freeing the whole country from lead by 2005.

Lead -- a substance used to boost a car fuel's combustive
power -- can cause respiratory problems, hypertension and heart
attacks. It can also reduce children's intelligence.

State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim said here on
Tuesday that leaded gasoline would no longer be sold in Semarang,
Central Java and Surabaya in East Java by August 2003 after the
same measure was introduced in the Greater Jakarta area and
Cirebon.

He also expressed the hope that Batam in Riau province would
have unleaded gasoline by June 2003, while other cities in
Indonesia would be free from leaded gasoline by January 2005.

"We really want to have cleaner air," Nabiel told reporters
after launching a low emission competition here on Tuesday.

Bali began using unleaded gasoline in 2002, while Papua was
free from lead a few years ago, Nabiel said.

According to a survey by the Environmental Impact Analysis
Agency (Bapedal) in 2001, ambient air quality in ten big cities
ranged from good to unhealthy. Air quality in Jakarta and Bandung
ranged from moderate to unhealthy.

An earlier survey by the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) and Bapedal in Greater Jakarta between 1995 and
1997 revealed that air pollution from transportation accounted
for 70 percent of the total air pollution.

Nabiel claimed that his ministry had struck a deal with
automotive producers to tighten vehicle emission standards to
meet the world standard, namely the EURO 2, by 2005.

Deputy State Minister for the Environment in charge of Impact
Management on Non-Institutional Sources Tanwir Yazid Mukawi said
Tuesday that he was upbeat about meeting the target to free major
cities in Java from lead this year due to upgrades at oil
refineries in Balongan, West Java; Cilacap, Central Java and
Plaju in South Sumatra.

"If we can cover major cities in Java, we will have 70 percent
of the country's vehicles with unleaded gasoline," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Vehicles operating in Jakarta and its surrounding cities,
Cirebon in West Java, Semarang and Surabaya account for 70
percent of the country's cars.

To free all cities in the country from lead, he said, oil
refineries in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, and in Dumai, Riau
must also be upgraded to produce unleaded gasoline.

"Thus we expect that in January 2005, all cities in the
country will be free from leaded gasoline," Tanwir said.

However, he said, the program was two years late from its
original schedule to free the country from leaded gasoline by
2003.

M. Harun, state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina spokesman
confirmed Tuesday that Pertamina had been supporting the
government program to free the country from leaded gasoline.

"We have upgraded Kasim, Balongan and Plaju oil refineries. We
wait for the completion of Cilacap oil refinery to provide
unleaded gasoline," he told the Post.