Unleaded fuel now in Jakarta gas stations

Unleaded fuel now in Jakarta gas stations

JAKARTA (JP): Four tanker trucks distributed, for the first
time, unleaded fuels to several gas stations in the city on
Sunday, marking the official launch of the government's drive to
remove leaded gasoline from the capital.

The tankers, bearing the logos "Premium TT" and "Premix TT" --
short for tanpa timbal or "unleaded" -- were officially seen off
by city Governor Sutiyoso at a ceremony at the City Hall that was
attended by two ministers and a number of high-ranking officials.

State Minister of the Environment Sonny Keraf, who was present
at the launching ceremony, described the program as a small
achievement, considering that it was very late in being realized
and was only being implemented in the capital.

"We've been struggling to do this since 1993. However, this is
an important step, and it's amazing that we can see it through in
this time of crisis," he said.

Nevertheless, he warned that the removal of lead from premium
gasoline and premix would not automatically clean the air.

"There is still diesel fuel and other pollutants that also
contaminated the air. We're working on that," Sonny asserted.

Something that is missing in the program to phase out leaded
gasoline is, apparently, promotion as many residents are still
unaware of the program.

Even many gas station attendants are not familiar with the
idea of unleaded gasoline either.

"I've heard about it. Well, as long as it's not going to make
the gasoline prices go up again, it's fine with me," said an
attendant at Semanggi gas station in South Jakarta.

Ahmad Safrudin, chief executive of the non-governmental
organization The Committee for Leaded Fuel Eradication, admitted
that publicity for the project was still lacking.

"We've distributed over 40,000 stickers but there are over 2
million vehicles in the capital. We've also made a TV
advertisement, but the publicity is still limited," he told The
Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Sonny Keraf, meanwhile, said that publicity was probably not
that essential.

"The most important thing is that lead has been removed from
gasoline all over the city," he told the Post.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro,
who was also on hand at the launching ceremony, said that the
government had decided to subsidize unleaded gasoline so that the
fuel price would remain the same at Rp 1,450 (about 13 U.S.
cents) per litter for premium gasoline and Rp 1,900 per litter
for premix.

Purnomo said that the government had allocated some Rp 300
billion (about US$27 million) for one-year's subsidy under the
program.

The subsidy included money to import the High Octane Mogas
Component (HOMC) which replaces the lead.

Purnomo further said that it would need some 12,000 barrels of
HOMC everyday to produce 8,000 kiloliters of premium and premix
to meet the capital's daily consumption of gasoline.

"The HOMC is imported from Saudi Arabia because we're still
unable to produce HOMC by ourselves. But hopefully, we'll be able
produce it soon," said Purnomo.

The unleaded gasoline, he added, was produced in the state-
owned oil and gas company Pertamina's refinery in Balongan, West
Java, which can produced up to 125,000 barrels of fuel everyday.

Purnomo said that the capital was a pilot project for the
program to replace unleaded gasoline all over the country, which
it is hoped will take place on Oct. 1, 2003.

"The government is now trying to find the money for the
project. It will take some US$250 million to replace leaded
gasoline," he said.

Lead is added to fuel to boost performance, and is used
because it is one of the cheapest choices available for doing
this. However, it causes health and environmental problems, and
retards intelligence in children.

It is estimated that the health costs related to leaded
gasoline amount to at Rp 2 trillion annually. (hdn)