Asia Times: Jakarta is high on octane, low in IQ


	April 20, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Jakarta is high on octane, low in IQ
By Kanis Dursin

JAKARTA - Exhaust emission tests are about to become part of the annual ritual of renewing plate numbers of vehicles in Indonesia as officials try to stem growing lead pollution.

In Jakarta, lead pollution has reached 1.3 micrograms per cubic meter, surpassing the World Health Organization's recommended maximum of between 0.5 and 1.0 micrograms per cubic meter.

''We consider this to be very serious because lead is neurotoxic, which affects the development of the brain in the first 10 years of human life,'' says Haryoto Kusnoputratanto, assistant minister for manmade environmental management in the State Ministry of Environment.

Results of a study conducted by the State Ministry of Environment in 1994 showed that Jakarta's three million children below the age of 10 lost about 730,000 intelligence quotient points every year. Officials say the situation has been getting worse since then.

''If we do nothing, the impact of lead pollution on human health would be tremendous,'' says Haryoto. ''If we are able to have unleaded fuel, it will reduce the lead concentration in the air drastically and a number of IQ points can be saved.''

Every year, Indonesia incurs health losses of 2 trillion rupiah ($266 million) because of leaded gasoline. Most vehicles in Indonesia are still using leaded fuel, which increases octane levels.

Officials hope that having all vehicles undergo an exhaust emission test will not only increase awareness of the dangers that go with using leaded gasoline, but also make people consider switching to unleaded fuel. At present, only public buses are required to undergo an emission test. The number of private cars, however, far exceed those of public buses, prompting officials to rework the policy.

Reports Haryoto: ''The Ministry of Transportation and police authorities have agreed to our proposal to make emission testing a requirement for extension of vehicle plate numbers and we are just waiting for the implementation of the policy now.''

Haryoto, who is also the deputy head of the Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) for environmental pollution control, says the heavy use of leaded gasoline in Indonesia is a major factor in the deteriorating air quality in the country. ''We feel air pollution is getting worse and worse, especially in the past five years,'' he says.

Agrees Aca Sugandhy, the state minister of environment's assistant for environmental management: ''Many exhaust gas emissions from vehicles in the city exceed tolerable limits, which contribute to the low air quality.''

Indonesia's air pollution is caused partly by industry (15 to 25 percent) and domestic waste burning, but the biggest culprit is vehicular emission, which accounts for 60-70 percent of total pollution. It is an especially major problem in big cities like Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra. The latest survey carried out by the environment ministry shows that 70-80 percent of vehicle emissions in Jakarta are above the standard.

Indonesia actually launched a ''blue-sky program'' in 1996 aimed at reducing air pollution. Among the objectives was a gradual reduction in the use of leaded fuel, with total phase-out scheduled for January 2000 at the latest.

But then the Asian economic crisis struck in 1997. Indonesia was hardest hit of the countries affected by the economic meltdown, and the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina were unable to secure loans to build a catalytic reformer needed to process unleaded fuel.

The ministry and Pertamina agreed last year to set a new deadline for lead-free fuel. According to a 1999 decree issued by the mines and energy ministry, there will be no more lead in premium and high octane premix in Jakarta by January next year, and throughout Indonesia by January 2003.

Haryoto says Pertamina will first need to find at least $200 million dollars to build a catalytic reformer. But he says, ''Hopefully, [the deadline] will not be postponed again.''

To complement the planned emission tests and an awareness campaign on the drawbacks in using leaded fuel, the State Ministry of Environment wants to be able to monitor vehicle maintenance, especially those with diesel engines.

Observes Dollaris Riauaty of Swisscontact, an international environmental organization: ''Routine maintenance is important in keeping emissions low. Low emission means low fuel consumption, better performance and fresher air.''

The environment ministry is even organizing a competition in government offices for pollution control. At the same time, it wants elementary and high school students to be taught about environmental issues to increase their awareness of environmental problems, particularly the country's worsening air pollution.

To maximize its monitoring role, the ministry is now installing air quality monitoring stations in 10 cities in Indonesia, including Pekanbaru in Riau, Jambi in Sumatra, Pontianak in West Kalimantan, Denpasar in Bali and Surabaya in East Java. The monitoring stations, which will be linked to the ministry offices in East Jakarta, will begin operation in the next two or three months.

Haryoto admits that poor enforcement of the law is one among many problems in the fight to improve Indonesia's air quality. He notes, ''We already have enough regulations. We have laws and government regulations on pollution control. But I think the enforcement and monitoring of the laws are very weak and that is the real problem.''

A case in point is the annual forest fires caused by land clearing. Between September and December last year, forest fires in Riau and West Kalimantan provinces caused the air pollution index to climb to levels considered hazardous.

''We have changed the law to hold estate owners responsible for forest fires, regardless of who created the fires first,'' says Haryoto. ''If the forest fires are in forest concessions, owners of those forest concessions must be responsible for the fires.'' But in the early months of this year, landowners were again clearing their properties with fire. The only reason these fires were not as bad as in previous years was that rain put them out quickly.

(Inter Press Service)

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