City to push inclusion of vehicle emissions test in tax payment

The City Administration will push the central government to accelerate the inclusion of emissions testing in the requirements for vehicle tax extensions in a bid to improve quality of air in the heavily polluted city.

Head of the Jakarta Environment Management Agency (BPLHD) Peni Susanti said Governor Fauzi Bowo would send a letter to the Economic Minister, asking the latter to make a joint ministerial decree with the Transportation Minister to regulate the plan.

“If the joint ministerial decree has been made, a vehicle that does not pass an emissions test or has not gone through it will not be able to pay the annual tax,” she said Thursday.

She said the regulation would push vehicle owners to take the emissions test because they would face hefty fines for late payment for vehicle tax.

Meanwhile, Peni said, the Agency’s plan to cooperate with the police to ticket owners whose vehicles did not pass or had not undergone the emissions test would likely be delayed, pending the issuance of a government regulation for the 2009 Traffic Law. -- JP