Sutiyoso wants vehicles here to use CNG

Sutiyoso wants vehicles here to use CNG

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said on Wednesday that all vehicles
operating in the city should switch to compressed natural gas
(CNG) instead of gasoline, in a bid to help reduce air pollution
in the city.

Speaking after attending the deliberation of the draft bylaw
on air pollution control, Sutiyoso said that public transport and
official vehicles belonging to the administration, central
government and the military would be among the first subjected to
the ruling.

"We will set an example by using gas fuel in the new busway
project. In the future, all public transportation vehicles and
other kinds of vehicles will be required to use gas fuel,"
Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall after a hearing with the
City Council to discuss draft bylaws on air pollution and
investment.

"However, we have to ensure that the supply of gas fuel must
be continuous, easy to obtain and cheap," he added.

The city has at least 11 stations selling CNG, but only three
of them are operational due to low demand.

Several factions in the City Council shared a similar view
with Sutiyoso over the urgency of the use of CNG to help reduce
air pollution in the city.

"We deem it paramount important to oblige the use of gas fuel
for vehicles operating in the city, especially public
transportation vehicles. Consequently, every gasoline station
must also sell gas fuel," said Marthin Octavianus Makatita of the
Golkar Party faction.

Marthin lambasted that the administration had turned a blind
eye to the fact that many public transport and taxi operators
maintained their old fleets, simply ignoring that their vehicles'
high emissions contributed to the air pollution in the capital.

"The draft bylaw should be able to control all vehicles,
especially public transport vehicles, which are not roadworthy or
produce high emissions," he added.

Denny Talloga of the Democratic Party faction asserted that
the draft bylaw should consider imposing restriction to old
vehicles from entering city roads.

Meanwhile, Wahid Supandi DS of the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle faction said that the draft bylaw was "too lenient"
to violators.

According to Fathi R Shidiq of the party alliance of Reform
Awakening faction, the sanctions imposed on polluters as
stipulated in the draft bylaw was too lenient.

"The sanctions must vary. The draft bylaw must impose a
different standard of sanctions to individual violators and
capital intensive institution violators, for instance," he said.

The draft bylaw seeks a maximum of six months' imprisonment
and fines of up to Rp 5 million (US$550) to polluters.

Air pollution in the city has reached an alarming level.
According to city officials, the air in Jakarta was clean for
just 51 days in the first eight months of 2004.

Vehicular emissions bear the brunt of 70 percent of air
pollutants, leaving industrial emissions accounting for the
remaining 30 percent.

City Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendi Sidabutar said
private company PT Mahanaim, through its subsidiary PT Lintas
Maju Bersama, has committed to invest Rp 27.6 billion (US$3.07
million) for the supply of CNG in the new busway project.

PT Mahanaim will adopt Argentine-based technology, Galileo, to
upgrade CNG pressure from the current level of between seven bars
and nine bars up to 250 bars.

"But, we are still waiting for private parties interested in
the project to invest in it," Rustam said.