Resources and necessities

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.