Views differ on how to tackle Jakarta's air pollution

Views differ on how to tackle Jakarta's air pollution

By John Aglionby

AS a location for a breakfast interview recently, the person I
was meeting suggested we eat in the Shangri-La hotel's dining
room on the 23rd floor so we could enjoy the view. That proved
wishful thinking. We could barely see the road below, let alone
the National Monument a couple of kilometers away.

The smoggy haze was all-enveloping, like a penetrable
blindfold through which one could venture without quite knowing
what lay beyond. It reminded me of the line written by the
American poet Henry Longfellow: I shot an arrow into the air, it
fell to earth I know not where.

Jakarta, according to United Nations statistics, is the third-
most polluted city in the world after Mexico City and Bangkok.
And a 1994 World Bank report on the city said: At present levels
of emissions, the measurements of ... (pollutants) indicate
serious damaging effects of air pollution to health."

Vehicle emissions cause 70 percent of the city's air
pollution.

State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kasumaatmaja has taken
the warnings to heart and is trying to tackle the issue through
his Blue Sky program to prevent the city being overwhelmed by air
pollution.

One of the main consultants on the project is Swisscontact, a
Swiss business and technical cooperation firm. Its Jakarta
representative, David Kuper, said there were three main ways to
reduce air pollution in a city.

"You first need a good public transport system, run in
parallel with the authorities inhibiting the use of private
vehicles. Second, you must improve the city's traffic management
and drivers' discipline and the third way is to reduce the
pollution coming out of vehicles."

Blue Sky is concentrating on the last of these and has three
main objectives, Kuper said.

"The first is to introduce the widespread use of unleaded
gasoline, because then it would be possible for drivers to use
catalytic converters. Then we need to clean up buses as much as
possible to reduce total suspended particle emissions and
finally, the country needs a good inspection and maintenance
system."

The importance of introducing unleaded gasoline was
highlighted by recent American research which said that for every
microgram per cubic meter of lead in the air, people growing up
in that vicinity will have lost one IQ point. The level in
Jakarta ranges from two to five mg/m3.

Last October, President Soeharto told the state oil company PT
Pertamina to introduce lead-free gasoline by 1999. Minister of
Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana reiterated this after witnessing
vehicle-emission tests in January.

Pertamina is not rushing to increase the supply of unleaded
gasoline though. And the public is not rushing to buy what is
available because it costs Rp 975 (40 U.S. cents) a liter
compared to only Rp 700 for Premium, the standard leaded fuel.

Within six months of changing to unleaded fuel, people would
then be able to install a catalytic converter in their cars to
remove other pollutants. "This would reduce vehicle emissions to
about 3 percent of what they are currently," Kuper said.

The major obstacle to this is cost. Converting a car or bus to
run on unleaded and with a catalytic converter would cost up to
US$200. This is prohibitively expensive for many road users,
particularly the bus and taxi companies who are responsible for
most of the pollution.

An oil and gas expert for PT Jardine Insurance Brokers Scott
Stewart said: "These firms are run on such tight profit margins,
there has to be a financial incentive for them to change. Taking
care of the environment for its own sake is a luxury they cannot
afford to indulge in at the moment."

He believes there has to be a market for unleaded fuel and
catalytic converters before Pertamina changes its refineries and
government intervention, in the form of legislation would be
required to initiate that.

The Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers, a key
player in the debate, disagrees with this approach. Its chairman,
Herman Latif, said that while carmakers here are fully supportive
of efforts to clean up emissions, the change has to come from
individual drivers.

"It will not be easy to change drivers' behavior because that
means changing the culture. And that cannot be done with a gun or
a decree. Drivers have to be convinced the changes are for their
own sake, safety and convenience," he said.

Latif believes the place to start is to persuade people of the
importance of maintaining their cars on a regular basis.

"Drivers must learn the financial benefits of preventing their
cars breaking down. Then they will be more aware of the benefits
of changing to unleaded gasoline or natural gas."

So, as the debate is running somewhat in circles, with the
government wanting Pertamina to take the lead, Pertamina wanting
the running to be made by the market, and the market wanting
government leadership, either through legislation or education
programs, it will probably be some time before Jakarta's 2.5
million drivers see where their arrows land.