Government's plan to curb air pollution targets private cars
Government's plan to curb air pollution targets private cars
By Stevie Emilia
JAKARTA (JP): A beautiful woman stands on the side of a busy
street near a pedestrian bridge, while in front of her passing
vehicles emit dark fumes into the air. Over time, her skin
darkens and the bridge rusts.
This scenario is featured in an advertisement for a skin
lotion. While the ad was designed to sell a product, it still
rings true. Car emissions, which contain hazardous pollutants
like lead, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide, are dangerous to
human health and one of the main causes of the city's worsening
air pollution.
But soon, Jakartans may be breathing fewer pollutants with the
introduction of a new "polluters pay" plan -- an inspection and
maintenance system for private cars -- which is expected to be
implemented some time around June next year.
Quoting air quality reports by the World Bank and the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the head of the city's
environmental impact management agency, Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno,
recently said the plan would be an initial step toward curbing
air pollution.
Motorized vehicles, he said, were the main source of air
pollutants and the plan would be a direct intervention to control
this source of pollution.
"With the plan, we expect less air pollution," Aboejoewono
said.
According to a report from the Central Bureau of Statistics,
the number of private cars in the city jumped from 485,844 in
1990 to 1,104,474 in 1998. During the same period, the number of
public vehicles increased from 169,027 to 311,471, while the
number of motorcycles went up from 804,186 to 2,086,327.
Private cars in the city were estimated by JICA to annually
emit 40,000 tons of hydrocarbon, 300,000 tons of carbon monoxide
and 3,000 metric tones of particles.
The inspection and maintenance system is expected to reduce
gasoline-powered vehicle's hydrocarbon level to 35 percent and
carbon monoxide to 50 percent.
"There's also a projection of a 5 percent reduction in fuel
consumption, or 65 million liters, for gasoline-powered vehicles
following the (implementation of the) inspection and maintenance
system," he said.
Dollaris Riauaty, the project adviser of Swisscontact, a
Switzerland-based non-governmental organization, said the plan
was already approved by Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso. However,
instead of being implemented in January next year as earlier
planned, it is expected to begin in June 2001.
"We're not ready to start in January due to the lack of
infrastructure, so we expect that it will be implemented in June
next year," she said, adding that the plan would be introduced to
the community through the media prior to its implementation.
Plan
Under the plan, each private car in the city will be required
to go through the inspection and maintenance system at a
certified service station. If the car meets the required emission
levels, it will receive a sticker and a certificate from the
service station.
Car owners will have to present the certificate to renew their
vehicle documents, while the sticker will be useful during random
check by the traffic police.
Cars which fail to meet the required emission levels must
undergo maintenance at the service station until they meet the
required emission levels.
"If the car passes the test without having to go through
maintenance, the owner will only have to pay a small amount of
money. We estimate Rp 5,000 at the most, including for the
sticker and certificate. But if the car fails, the maintenance
costs are based on the prevailing fees," Dollaris said.
Currently, the administration has set the maximum emission
level for gasoline-powered vehicles at 4.5 percent of carbon
monoxide and 1,200 parts per million (ppm) of hydrocarbon. The
exhaust of vehicles using diesel must have an opacity level of 50
percent.
"At the moment, we are only prepared to inspect and maintain
private cars, while others, including public transportation
vehicles and motorcycles, might get their turn later, in the long
term," Dollaris said.
In the early stages of the plan, the city administration will
open bids to private institutions -- which will be in charge of
examining service stations and certifying them, training
operators to perform the tests and setting up the software for
the plan. The bidding's requirements and procedures will be
established by the administration.
A commission to monitor the program also will be set up. The
commission's members will include officials from the
administration and representatives from the private sector and
NGOs.
According to the program, only certified service stations will
be allowed to inspect and maintain vehicles before issuing
stickers and certificates.
The service stations then will record the data of those
vehicles which passed the test, and routinely send the data to
the city administration through electronic mail for further
processing. The data, which will be used for monitoring,
evaluation and impact analysis, will also be sent to the city
police for cross-checking.
"So far, around 120 service stations are ready and have the
facilities (for the testing). But for the plan, we will need at
least 300 stations," Dollaris said.
Checking vehicle emissions is not new. Some vehicle owners in
the capital since 1996 have enjoyed free emission checks, which
are regularly organized by the city administration in cooperation
with Swisscontact. The checks are aimed at reducing the level of
vehicle emissions.
Swisscontact's emission checks of more than 5,000 private
vehicles at some 100 service stations in Jakarta last November
showed that about 35 percent of the cars tested failed to meet
Jakarta's tolerable emission standard.
Dollaris earlier suggested the formulation of tougher
regulations and a review of the present emission standard level
by local authorities.
For instance, she said, cars manufactured before 1985 should
emit less than 4 percent of carbon monoxide and 900 ppm of
hydrocarbon. Cars made between 1986 and 1995 using a carburetor
should not exceed 3.5 percent of carbon monoxide and 750 ppm of
hydrocarbon, while those with an injection system should emit a
maximum of 600 ppm of hydrocarbon.
Meanwhile, those cars manufactured after 1996 and using
carburetors should not exceed 3 percent of carbon monoxide and
600 ppm of hydrocarbon. Cars equipped with injection systems
should emit less than 2.5 percent of carbon monoxide and 400 ppm
of hydrocarbon.
Dollaris said the proposed standards "could easily be met as
long as (vehicle) owners maintained routine servicing for their
cars".