[sustran] Re: Jakarta: Activists say Carfree Days are "A Waste"

[Walter Hook]

This is interesting.  Walhi Jakarta comes out against car free days because
they 'did not help much.'   This sounds like something from the Onion.  

 

"Environmental activists support return to coal fired power plants, say wind
turbines are just weak palliative"

 

Environmentalists from Walhi Jakarta came out in support of coal fired power
plants today, arguing that with the sort of wind turbines, hydro, 'clean
coal', solar panels, and other palliatives cropping up, the public is just
not that fired up about environmental concerns any more.  "We still have air
pollution", said Rina Siryani, "but without all that black soot falling on
our heads everyday, donations to Walhi Jakarta are way down.  And those car
free days, with people riding around on bicycles, its making people think we
don't have any problems any more.  We propose forcing people to drive cars
on Sundays, that will remind people of the hell they live through every
other day."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  _____  

From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org at list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org at list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf
Of Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 10:27 AM
To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
Subject: [sustran] Jakarta: Activists say Carfree Days are "A Waste"

 


Activists: Car-Free Days Are 'A Waste'


http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/city/article/10931.html

Environmental activists on Monday urged the Jakarta Administration to
temporarily halt its car-free days on selected city roads, saying a
re-evaluation was needed because the event had failed to reduce air
pollution and loose regulations have resulted in many violations, including
those by senior officials.

"Legally, the car-free days cannot be stopped, but the city administration
should halt them temporarily and conduct a review of what went wrong.
Honestly, it's been such a waste," Selamet Daroyni, the executive director
of the Jakarta branch of Indonesian Forum for the Environment, or Walhi,
told a press conference.

Selamet said car-free days, generally on Sundays, had failed to achieve the
short-term objective of minimizing air pollution and also had failed to
encourage Jakarta residents to be more environmentally friendly and less
dependent on cars.

"If we perceive this issue from the three success indicators, I'd say these
events did not help much," Selamet said. 

He said the indicators were public participation, air pollution reduction
and public obedience, including by government officials and law enforcers.

Ahmad Safrudin, of the Committee for Phasing Out Leaded Gasoline, said
car-free days merely relocated traffic flow from one place to another
without reducing air pollutants.

He said that a report by the Jakarta Environmental Management Board, or
BPLHD, that air pollution has decreased significantly was unreliable.

"Jakarta has five air quality monitoring systems, but only one of them is
working, so I doubt the report," he said.

Ahmad said the inefficiency of car-free days had been proven by many
violations, with some of the violators being government officials and
policemen.

Responding to criticism, Rina Suryani, the BPLHD head of natural resources
monitoring, said they had scientific measurements to prove that car-free
days had in fact contributed significantly to air pollution reduction. 

"In some parts of Jakarta, the air quality has gotten better because of this
program," she said.

Rina said the board could not enforce sanctions against violators because
the 2005 bylaw enabling car-free days had not stipulated any.

Jakarta's car-free days began in September 2007 and are held on the last
Sunday of each month. 

This year BPLHD has scheduled 22 road closure events.

-- 
--------------------------------------------
 
Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory
 
Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany
 
Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
Home/Office: ++49 030 7554 0001
 
edelman at greenidea.eu
www.greenidea.eu
www.flickr.com/photos/edelman
 
CAR is over. If you want it.
 
"Fort mit der Autostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" 
- B. Brecht (with slight modification)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090224/76a85a71/attachment.html