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.