Indonesia to start random vehicle emission tests as poor air chokes Jakarta
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Jakarta has been consistently ranked among the 10 most polluted cities globally since May, and ranked second on Monday.
PHOTO: AFP
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JAKARTA – Indonesia’s capital will force drivers to undergo emission tests for their vehicles, and is also considering ordering half of its civil servants to work from home, officials said on Monday, amid deteriorating air quality that has made Jakarta one of the world’s most polluted cities.
Jakarta has been consistently ranked among the 10 most polluted cities globally since May and last week topped global rankings
On Monday, Jakarta was second in the rankings.
During a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo blamed the problem largely on “excessive road traffic, long dry season, and manufacturing industry mainly those using coal”. But environmental groups have been pointing to coal-fired power plants as the cause of the problem.
The government announced on Monday that it would carry out random checks on vehicles and force drivers to undergo emission tests. It will consider fines for those who fail and revoke the licences of repeat offenders.
It will also require emission tests to be part of the process of obtaining a vehicle registration licence. It did not say when the measures would be introduced or how they would be enforced.
“We will start in Jakarta and when it gets better, we will expand it to Greater Jakarta,” Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar told a press conference.
President Widodo also advised companies to impose hybrid working and urged weather modification in Greater Jakarta, saying dry weather was contributing to pollution.
Weather modification includes techniques such as cloud seeding, already used in Indonesia during the dry season. This involves shooting salt flares into clouds to trigger rainfall.
“Also, keep monitoring the industrial sector and power plants mainly surrounding Greater Jakarta,” he said.
Other measures under consideration include requiring cars with 2,400cc engine capacity and above to use 98-octane fuel, and requiring each vehicle to be carrying four people.
Jakarta residents, which number well over 10 million, have long complained of poor air.
A group of residents won a landmark civil case against the government in 2021, with President Widodo ordered to establish national air quality standards to protect human health, and the health minister and Jakarta governor told to devise strategies to control air pollution. REUTERS
