Jakarta wants old cars off street
Jakarta wants old cars off street
Abdul Khalik and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta authorities are considering for the umpteenth time
banning old cars on the capital's roads, blaming aged vehicles
for traffic congestion and pollution.
The idea was first mooted by the Ali Sadikin administration in
the 1970s.
The latest announcement of the plan was made by Jakarta Police
on Tuesday, which in the near future could refuse to renew
registration for old cars in Jakarta. Instead, the police will
transfer the registration process to regions outside Jakarta.
"We won't renew registration documents of old cars here in
Jakarta. We will transfer the registration process for old cars
to outlying areas, such as Bogor and Bekasi," Jakarta Police
chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said.
Firman said that once the cars were registered elsewhere, they
would be banned from entering the capital.
Firman added that talks with relevant agencies regarding
banning older cars in Jakarta were under way.
He said that since cars registered outside of Jakarta would be
identifiable by their license plates, his officers would be able
to monitor cars on Jakarta streets.
Earlier, head of the finance ministry's Economic, Financial
and International Collaboration Studies Agency (Bappekki) Anggito
Abimanyu said the government was considering limiting the number
of private vehicles on the streets through a vehicle lifespan
scheme.
He said the government had yet to decide which production
years would be affected but he hoped to decide on the details of
the policy soon and implement it by next month.
Environmentalists have called on the Jakarta administration to
ban all vehicles produced before 1990 from the capital's streets
to help reduce the capital's worsening air pollution.
But vintage car lovers argue that it is the roadworthiness of
a car that matters, not its age.
Commenting on the planned policy, Jakarta Deputy Governor
Fauzi Bowo said that the idea of banning old vehicles in the
capital was an old issue.
"The idea was introduced by former Jakarta governor Ali
Sadikin at the end of his term (in 1977), and was followed up by
governor Tjokro Pranolo (1977-1982), but in the end, the
administration dropped the plan, considering in it unfeasible,"
Fauzi said at City Hall.
Fauzi said that limiting cars in the capital to those less
than 10 years old would deal a severe blow to most lower-to-
middle income residents who could not afford to buy new cars.
"We don't think it would be fair since not all Jakarta
residents are rich people," he said.
However, he acknowledged that such a policy would
significantly reduce fuel consumption in the city and therefore
conserve energy.