Emissions Test Ticket Necessary for Deterrent Effect, Expert Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Public Policy Expert Agus Pambagio criticizes Metro Jaya regional police decision to halt emissions test ticketing, while deeming it ineffective and a burden to the public.

"This is not about weighing down the public [or] about the rich and the poor, this is about law enforcement," he said on Thursday, September 14, 2023.

Agus Pambagio believes the policy is necessary to stimulate a deterrent effect. The police, he said, has to comply with the policy and regulation that has been issued. "To stop people from being repeat offenders, a fine is necessary. No need to issue the regulation in the first place if there is no intention to implement it," he said.

Previously, the head of the Metro Jaya regional police air pollution control task force Nurcholis mentioned that the ticketing is ineffective and only warned people who have failed the emissions test without applying fines. Agus said this decision confused people. 

Meanwhile, the Traffic Director of Metro Jaya regional police Chief Commissioner Latif Usman stated that the emissions test ticket will still be implemented, albeit in a limited setting. Latif informed that the fine is only applied to vehicles with visible signs of pollution, such as thick smoke coming out of the exhaust.

On the other side of the coin, the Head of the Jakarta Environmental Office Asep Kuswanto believed that the emissions test ticket is an effective way to suppress air pollution. He also encouraged the public to participate in emissions tests. "Whether or not the fine is implemented, it is the moral obligation of all Jakartans to participate in emissions tests in order to improve the environmental quality," he said when met last Tuesday.

Metro Jaya regional police and the Environmental Office plan to meet at an uncertain date to discuss the emissions test ticket policy.

M. FAIZ ZAKI

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