Refineries vs. health

Perfect timing! Last week the government revived the nationwide campaign for the use of unleaded gasoline -- revived, because like so many other things, the campaign had petered out with little progress toward its target of completely phasing out the use of leaded gasoline by the end of the year.

The timing was interesting indeed, because a group assigning itself to oversee it was just about to sue the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources "for ignoring its own decree" issued in 1999 about the gradual end to leaded gas.

Too much sarcasm can be as unhealthy as the air we breathe; but it is doubtful that the lead accumulated over the years has affected the sensibilities of our authorities and experts so much that Indonesia's cities are still plodding their way out of these toxic fumes, over 30 long years since the dangers of lead in the air were exposed and confirmed by scientific studies.

Study after study has shown us how unseen emissions (lead in the air we breathe is largely blamed on vehicle emissions) are harming ourselves and our children, not to mention the police officers, bus drivers and others, who are exposed to hours of toxins each day.

It causes irreversible damage to the kidney and liver, and reduced brain development in children, but the State Ministry for the Environment only has the power to "appeal" to suppliers, particularly state-run oil and gas company Pertamina, "to make this program a success."

While unleaded gas was first introduced in Jakarta in 1991, the capital retains the top rank among the world's most polluted cities. It has been difficult to attribute the shift to cleaner fuel on the "natural" ability of people in wealthy countries to understand the real danger; nor can we blame it on the economic crisis of the late 1990s, as even in Southeast Asia we continue to fall further behind neighbors whose governments display much more care about their citizens' health.

From time to time, the city administration trumpets a "new" announcement that vehicles over 10-years-old will no longer be allowed on the streets; but even Governor Sutiyoso hasn't shown his usual stubbornness in the face of protests.

So we're stuck in a rut -- the supply of unleaded gas, 14 years after it was first introduced here, remains only available in Great Jakarta, parts Batam and Bali, while leaded gas must still be available for old cars.

Meanwhile lessons abound on how to switch to cleaner fuel, from the United States to neighboring Thailand. Experts have shown many a minister that beyond the fears of high costs of upgrading the refineries, there are billions of dollars to be saved in medical costs for citizens who must breathe the lead.

An expert from the United Nations Environment Program cited in this paper last week the World Bank's study of the United States' experience since the 1970s; that "for every US$1 invested in the phase-out effort, $10 was saved in medical costs and resulted in increased productivity and environmental health."

The Committee for Leaded Fuel Phase-out, which earlier planned to file the above mentioned lawsuit, has also cited studies showing our willingness to spend over $100 million for health and other related costs owing to polluted air in Bandung alone, rather than invest in preventive measures for one of our most congested cities.

There have however been small signs of progress: Thanks to the campaign for unleaded gas, researchers say that in Jakarta testing of blood samples of dozens of children in 2001 showed decreasing levels of lead.

Taking proper care of our cars and giving up our old ones, to a collectors' museum, is the sacrifice we need to make for own health and that of our children.

As for the government, it has once again invited the repeated criticism of the lack of political will. As in the past, the ministry in charge of the environment has never been given a portfolio; which might otherwise help it to push for concerted efforts across the administration. Apart for waiting forever for the adjustment of refineries, we might, with better policies, be encouraged to use better public transportation, and discouraged to buy more cars by imposing a progressive taxation scheme.

Then we would not see a feeble call from a government body amounting to something like, "You're choking my son, could you please stop?"