YLKI should get facts straight

YLKI should get facts straight

Having read the article on the Ministry of Transportation's
plan to import secondhand buses from Australia and Japan, it
immediately struck me that it was a good idea to cheaply import
older buses provided that they were still in good condition. I
was therefore surprised to read the reaction of the Indonesian
Consumers Foundation (YLKI), which expressed its worries about
roadworthiness and possible pollution.

I'd just like to point out to the YLKI that it is a daily
occurrence when plying Jakarta's roads to find oneself totally
engulfed in clouds of thick, black smoke emanating from buses
that look more like rusty cattle pens on bald tires than anything
approximating to public transportation vehicles.

If a compulsory inspection using the Australian or Japanese
standards were introduced here, I am sure the bus problem would
be solved immediately. Put simply, no more buses would be allowed
on the roads due to their total lack of roadworthiness.

By contrast, I have never seen a bus produce a toxic cloud,
even if the bus was old, in the countries referred to above. And
there, they really look like buses. The regulations and yearly
inspections in those countries ensure that buses, and road
transport vehicles in general, comply with the set maximum of
emission limits as well as exigencies of public safety.

Rest assured, the imported buses will provide welcome relief
for the pollution-choked residents of Jakarta when they arrive.

SOREN LAX, Jakarta