Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Last year Governor Sutiyoso received an award proclaiming him Asian Air Quality Champion. But since then, less than one percent of the 2.5 million private cars in the city have had mandatory emissions tests done.
Data from the Partnership for Clean Emissions (MEB), which was tasked by the administration to oversee the tests, also showed that only 92 percent of the 25,632 cars that were tested passed the emissions standard.
MEB secretary general John Livingstone Wuisan said the data had been delivered to Sutiyoso on Friday, during a meeting with the heads of city agencies and the mayors of Jakarta's municipalities.
"In the meeting, we asked the Governor to issue an ordinance to fix the mandatory emissions tests, if the city wants the other 99 percent of private cars to take the tests as well," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
The emissions tests are part of bylaw on air pollution control. Up to 80 percent of pollution in the capital is caused by vehicles.
An international seminar in Yogyakarta last year awarded Sutiyoso the award of Asian Air Quality Management Champion for his air improvement policy.
Jakartans enjoyed 45 days of clean air last year compared to 28 days in 2005 when the administration first launched the emissions tests. As of April, there were 25 days of clean air in the capital.
John said that since police did not require the emissions certificate for extending car registration, many people left their cars unchecked.
"The implementation of emissions testing has been at almost zero since July last year because there has been no ordinance to be used as guidelines for performing the test," John said.
The administration plans to be begin punishing motorists who fail tests in September, a month before Sutiyoso ends his second and final term as governor.
The draft of the gubernatorial decree, which is at the city's general bureau, is expected to be signed in June. The draft would see all cars traveling in the capital, including Bekasi, Depok, Tangerang and Bogor, forced to comply with the emissions standard.
John said the city police had agreed to temporarily use a 1992 law on traffic to punish those who failed emissions tests with a maximum fine of Rp 2 million or two months jail. The existing bylaw on air pollution control stipulates that a violator could face six months in jail or a Rp 50 million fine.
The draft bylaw would also shift the burden of paying for the clean air effort away from the city budget. "All of the budget, including the printing of emissions certificates and stickers, will be funded by authorized garages," John said.
The administration is set to authorize 300 auto garages, up from the current total of 136 and certify 600 technicians, up from the current of 303
A public policy expert from Indonesia University, Andrinof Chaniago said the mandatory emissions tests, which will bring money to some in the private sector, were created to raise money.
"The emissions tests policy is not aimed at improving public services. It's not a basic need. Therefore, it's more important to conduct emissions tests on public transport and enforcing that law," he said as quoted by Antara.