The product would then have to be sent by ship to major population centers, or Pertamina would have to build a pipeline. Either project would take approximately two years to complete. Most of the parties involved in the fight for cleaner air are focused on phasing out leaded gasoline as their first target. Requiring catalytic converters is another long-range goal, but one that can be implemented only when unleaded gasoline is readily available. Many of the imported vehicles that have come in as a result of Indonesia s recent opening of the automobile market came equipped with catalytic converters that were removed on arrival.
Catalytic converters are a long-term and relatively expensive solution, however.
Anyone who has stood on a Jakarta street corner as buses, cars, and motorcycles drive past spewing black smoke knows that more is needed. In the short term, an effective mandatory maintenance and inspection program will provide the most bang for the buck, in conjunction with leaded gas phaseout. Diesel vehicles in particular showed remarkable reductions in emissions after basic maintenance such as cleaning the air and fuel filters during a test program during Emission Reduction Week in April 2000. The Governor of Jakarta stipulated in September 2000 that a mandatory inspection and maintenance program be put in place by August 2001. Emissions and dispersion affect the entire greater Jakarta area, however.