Inspection or corruption?

Inspection or corruption?

From Kontan

Jakarta's land transportation office plans to conduct private vehicle roadworthiness inspections as a prerequisite for extending motor vehicle registrations. This is reportedly meant to guarantee the roadworthiness of all cars and prevent further air pollution in the city.

However, it is public knowledge that such a scheme could well develop into a breeding ground for corruption. All we have to do is ask the owners or drivers of public transportation vehicles. Here, various loopholes are availed of to impose all sorts of charges and illegal fees, without any regard being paid to the actual condition of the vehicles.

Besides, the city's present vehicle testing facilities will obviously not be sufficient to enable the local administration to annually test the millions of public transportation and private vehicles on Jakarta's roads. This is clear from the limited time, personnel and equipment available.

The basic problem is that this plan runs against the principle of involving the public in managing security and the environment, including ensuring that vehicles are up to standard. What the government should do is to set roadworthiness standards and then enforce them by conducting snap inspections to ensure compliance.

L. LUMINTO RAHAYU
Jakarta