The central government will also require emission tests to be part of the process of obtaining a vehicle registration licence in the capital city. 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, which involves shooting salt flares into clouds to trigger rainfall.
“Also, keep monitoring the industrial sector and power plants mainly surrounding Greater Jakarta,” he told ministers.
Other measures under consideration include requiring cars with 2,400cc engine capacity and above to use 98-octane fuel, and requiring each vehicle to carry 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, prompting President Widodo to order the establishment of national air quality standards to protect human health and to tell the health minister and Jakarta governor to devise strategies to control air pollution.Â
Source: CNA
