Resources and necessities

What comes first: health or mobility? Health, the non- governmental organizations say. Mobility, the government counters. These two positions, immaterial as they may seem to some given the country's current circumstances, are at the core of Indonesia's latest dissonance.

Indonesian environmentalists have long campaigned for a ban on the use of leaded gasoline, which they say is responsible for pushing pollution levels in Jakarta and other major cities to levels that are well above the thresholds of tolerance. In Jakarta, studies have found pollution levels reaching 0.2 to 1.8 micrograms per cubic meter. The tolerable level set by the World Health Organization is 0.5

As lead is emitted with exhaust fumes in the form of extremely fine particles, it is easily inhaled. Once the lead enters the body, it can cause serious health problems -- from respiratory problems to brain damage in children. The social cost that air pollution inflicts on society is estimated to reach some US$62.4 million a year.

Confronted with such data, the minister of energy and mineral resources agreed during an environmental workshop last February to ban leaded gasoline in Greater Jakarta beginning in June next year, with the ultimate goal of making the whole country free of leaded gasoline by January 2003.

Last Tuesday, however, the government appeared to be going back on its pledge, saying it was unlikely the move would be implemented any time in the near future as there were more pressing demands on the country's limited resources.

Assistant to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dipo Alam said the government remains supportive of the idea, but "the government has its own priorities", which, among other things, was promoting social safety net programs.

However, while the government was shirking its responsibility to protect the environment and stop the poisoning of its citizens, support came on Thursday from House of Representatives Commission VIII for science, technology and the environment.

In a hearing with the Forum for the Phasing Out of Leaded Gasoline, commission chairman Irwan Prayitno, of the Reform Faction, said the commission would urge the government, in particular the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Office of the State Minister of the Environment to draw up short and long-term plans to make Jakarta free of leaded gasoline by June next year and the whole country by January 2003, as agreed.

It is true that a ban on leaded gasoline has financial implications that might be hard on the country under present circumstances. Yet one could question the wisdom of putting off the ban -- which means putting the public's health on the back burner -- in favor of other projects such as, say, building a subway for Jakarta, which government officials have mentioned as one of the "more pressing priorities" for the government.

Like Irwan Prayitno, many Indonesians feel that the government's excuse of limited resources is rather weak given the fact that there are many investors willing to put their money in support of the project, even at marginal profits of between 2 percent and 3 percent. According to estimates made by several non-governmental organizations, a shift from leaded to unleaded gasoline would cost the country somewhere between $190 million and $230 million.

As for those who are forced by economic necessity to daily roam the streets of Jakarta, the answer to the problem is clear enough. The smog that hangs over the city is getting thicker and blacker by the day as private cars, buses and trucks continue to belch their black exhaust fumes into the air, unpunished. Meanwhile, official promises to put a stop to air pollution by cars -- the biggest source of pollution -- have come to nothing, except for the testing of the exhausts of a few cars as a token of concern to the public.

Obviously, the government is pressed for resources. The important point to remember, though, is that a major requirement for making Jakarta livable is to clean up its air. A ban on leaded gasoline in this city should therefore not be seen as a luxury, but rather as a necessity that cannot be delayed much longer. Let's hope the authorities will give the problem the consideration it deserves and find a way to honor its agreement before the problem becomes too complicated to solve.