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.