Govt to tighten vehicle emissions standards
Govt to tighten vehicle emissions standards
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government was planning to issue a new decree on tighter vehicle exhaust emission limits that would require new vehicles to have a catalytic converter beginning in 2004, according to a senior governmental official.
Ridwan D. Tamin, deputy assistant for vehicle emissions at the Ministry of Environment, said last week the proposed decree was consistent with the government policy to improve air quality in the country.
A catalytic converter is a device, which is assembled into the exhaust pipe to help reduce the harmful emissions that pollute the air such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon.
"We expect the new decree will come into force by the end of this year," he told The Jakarta Post, noting that a similar policy had been implemented by several neighboring countries.
Under the new decree, the government plans to tighten vehicle emission standards gradually in three phases: the pre-2004 phase, the 2004 to 2007 phase and the post-2007.
He did not however elaborate on the emission limits to be imposed in each phase, but said Indonesia is seeking to implement the European emission standards.
"What is certain is that new vehicles manufactured in 2004 must use catalytic converters to meet the new emission limits," Ridwan said.
Ridwan said automobiles with catalytic converters would have to use unleaded gasoline because leaded gasoline would severely damage the catalytic convertor. As such, the obligation for new vehicles to have catalytic converters as of 2004 presupposes that Indonesia will already be free from leaded gasoline by that time.
The government introduced unleaded gasoline in Jakarta and in Cirebon, West Java last year and expects to completely change over from leaded gasoline by 2004.
As for vehicles produced before 2004, Ridwan said thus far the government had no plans to oblige the owners to equip their vehicles with catalytic converters.
"We should tolerate old cars as we know many people can't just replace their old cars with new ones," he said.
Ridwan cautioned however that a new decree could possibly be issued in the future either by the central government or provincial governments to oblige the owners of the those produced before 2004 to install catalytic converters.
To this point, local automotive manufacturers have yet to produce cars with catalytic converters due to the widespread use of leaded gasoline.
Ridwan further said the new policy could help the local automotive industry expand their market to other countries, because most had tightened their emissions policy long ago.
"The new policy will force local producers to make vehicles that meet international emission standards and as such help locally produced units in competing with neighboring countries," he said.
Bambang Trisulo, chairman of the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo), supported the planned decree, saying it would be a positive impact for the sector as well as for the environment.
"We have the time to make vehicles which meet the new vehicle emission requirement. We're optimistic we can do it," Bambang told The Post.
However, Bambang said, the government must first ensure that unleaded gasoline would be available in every province of the country prior to implementing the new car emission standards in 2004.