Vehicle emission standards to be delayed again
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The dream of achieving cleaner air in Jakarta is still months from reality, as the government has yet to complete the revision of its 10-year-old, outdated national standard for vehicle emissions.
The revision is expected to be finished and come into effect in September, meaning all motorists are obliged to pass the emission test to renew their vehicle registration documents.
Assistant deputy for vehicle emissions at the Office of the State Minister of the Environment Ridwan Tamin said on Thursday that the ongoing revision of Ministerial Decree No. 35/1993 on vehicle emission standards was scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.
"We are still discussing it (the revision) with automotive experts and local administrations to ensure that the new standard is comprehensive and applicable nationwide," he told The Jakarta Post.
Tamin said discussions had taken longer than estimated because they had to take into account Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy, Law No. 23/1997 on the environment and Law No. 14/1992 on traffic.
The current emission standard stipulates that gasoline-fueled cars emit a maximum of 4.5 percent carbon monoxide (CO) and 2,400 parts per million (ppm) of hydrocarbons (HC). The smoke opacity of diesel-fueled cars is limited to 25 percent.
The new standard will also take into account the results of a recent emission test in greater Jakarta in May. In a random spot check involving 2,034 cars, more than 60 percent of diesel-fueled private vehicles and 36.2 percent of those that were gasoline- fueled failed to meet the emission standards.
Jakarta has applied tougher standards since 2000, requiring cars with injection systems not to exceed 3 percent CO and 600 ppm of HC.
Jakartans must have their vehicles tested at least once a year at one of 50 appointed garages.
Tamin said his office had issued Ministerial Decree No. 141/2003, requiring all new vehicles to meet the Euro 2 standard. The decree will become effective on Jan. 1, 2005.
Euro 2, which came into effect in Europe in 1996, permits exhaust emissions of nitrous oxide of 7.0 grams per kilowatt- hour, hydrocarbons 1.1 g/kWh, carbon monoxide 4.0 g/kWh and particulates 0.15 g/kWh.
Meanwhile, attempts to apply emission stickers to vehicle registration documents in a bid to raise public awareness are still far from realization.
The idea of issuing differently colored stickers, depending on whether vehicles comply with the regulation or not, arose during a discussion organized by the Pelangi Foundation on Thursday.
"Vehicles passing the emission tests would be given green stickers, while those that did not would get red ones," said Mohamad Thamzil, head of the directorate of urban transportation impact at the Ministry of Communications.
"The emission tests will be voluntary and we won't ban vehicles that fail the test because we need to familiarize the public with the issue."
Thamzil said the approach had been in use in India since 1998.
He added that if someone buying a vehicle found that it had a red sticker, they would relate it to fuel quality. In the end, the public would pressure the government to produce more environmentally friendly fuel.
However, some Jakartans have already questioned the effectiveness of the scheme.
Eka, a salesgirl at car dealer Mobil88, said the proposed idea would only create a nuisance for her company and customers.
"Unless the emission test and labeling are free of charge, customers will question them and probably cancel their car purchases," she said.
As for Danny, a private car owner, the scheme would merely provide an opportunity for corruption.
"Motorists can simply go to an authorized garage and bribe the mechanic for a green sticker," he said. "If the objective is to cause 'public humiliation', the stickers should be put on the vehicle registration plates so that everybody can see them."