Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration will work together with nonprofit organization the Clean Emissions Partnership (MEB) to get ahead with its mandatory emissions test program, an official said Tuesday.
Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) head Budirama Natakusumah said the agreement would be signed by the two parties at a ceremony attended by Governor Sutiyoso on Wednesday.
""After the signing, all activities related to the emissions test program will be managed by the MEB. They will also be responsible for monitoring the program's daily implementation,"" Budirama told The Jakarta Post.
Under the agreement, the MEB is responsible for certifying auto garages and technicians, printing certificates and windshield stickers for the program and monitoring the operation of certified garages.
""We will no longer need to allocate funds for emissions testing. It is polluters who will pay for environmental damage.
""The MEB will make the system, we will only issue stickers and certificates,"" Budirama said.
The MEB was established on 17 July, 2002. It has 170 members from the government, private sector, non-governmental organizations, civil society and universities.
A number of international development agencies also assisted in establishing the MEB and continue to support its activities.
MEB chairman F. Soeseno said they were delighted by the cooperation with the Jakarta administration and the trust put in them to run such an important program.
However, Soeseno said they needed to work with other parties in running the program.
""We don't have the capacity to examine auto workshops, so we will cooperate with other parties to do so,"" he told the Post.
The city began the mandatory testing of the emissions of vehicles as part of a 2005 bylaw on air pollution.
The bylaw, which also restricts smoking in a range of public places and requires public transportation vehicles to run on compressed natural gas, carries a maximum penalty of six months' jail or a Rp 50 million fine.
Since the bylaw was enacted in February, the BPLHD has certified 81 auto garages and authorized 239 technicians to perform emissions tests.
Jakarta, with 2.5 million private cars, needs at least 250 certified auto garages. The administration has distributed 20,000 certificates and stickers to auto garages since February.
The BPLHD claims its stock of stickers and certificates ran out in July.
When Sutiyoso ordered a monthlong emissions test campaign in September to remind people of the program, auto garages distributed temporary certificates to customers.
The transportation sector is believed to be the main contributor to air pollution in the city. Of the 3,056 private cars tested in September's campaign, 1,140 failed the test.
In Wednesday's signing ceremony, Sutiyoso is scheduled to give awards to members of the Clean Emissions Appreciation (AEB) forum who participated in the environmental program.
The AEB has 47 members from universities, industries, offices and shopping centers.
The forum has so far performed emissions tests on more than 5,000 cars. Some of its members stop vehicles without an emissions sticker on the windshield from entering their parking lot.
