Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
According to emissions testing conducted recently in the capital, cars operated on diesel or of an older model are most likely to be harming the environment.
Tests supervised by the Jakarta Environment Management Board (BPLHD) in June found that 178 cars out of 512 tested produced an unsuitable level of emissions. Over half of these cars were diesel-fueled.
"We are still trying to establish whether or not higher emissions are caused by poor diesel quality," Yusiono Anwar, head of the BPLHD's air pollution control unit told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Diesel sold around the country has a sulfur content of 3,500 particles per meter (ppm) according to data from the State Ministry for the Environment. This is far higher than the maximum level of 500 ppm set by Euro II's standard of emissions, which was adopted in Jakarta early this year.
Euro II also requires all cars to use a catalytic converter designed to control the amount of pollution emitted from their exhaust systems.
Toll road operator PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP) randomly tested the emission levels of 186 private cars traveling on the Sedyatmoko toll road to Tanjung Priok last month.
The tests found that 134 cars met the city's emissions requirements.
"Seventy percent of the cars tested were new. Four cars produced before 1985 failed the test," Darmawan Sembiring of the BPLHD said.
Other random testing was conducted near the South Jakarta Municipality Office last week. Of 326 cars tested, 115 were diesel-fueled and over 40 percent failed to meet the emissions standard.
Emissions testing became mandatory for all private cars in Jakarta after a bylaw was passed on air pollution in 2005.
The bylaw requires private cars to be tested twice a year.
Public transportation vehicles including trucks and busses also must be tested under the regulation.
However, many public transport vehicles in the city continue to produce thick exhaust fumes.
More than 2.5 million private vehicles hit the city's streets every day, many of them from outside Jakarta.
The draft of a gubernatorial decree on emissions testing stipulates that all private cars traveling in the capital, including in Bekasi, Depok, Tangerang and Bogor, must comply with emissions standards set by Jakarta's administration.
The administration has pledged to fully enforce emissions testing by September.
Yusiono said routine maintenance on engines can reduce the level of emissions produced by private cars.
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