According To The Former Minister Of Environment, Electric Vehicles Are A Solution To Overcome Pollution In DKI Jakarta

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Environmental Affairs Alexander Sonny Keraf said the acceleration of the transition of electric vehicles is one solution to overcome the high air pollution in DKI Jakarta which comes from the transportation sector.

Sonny assessed that pollutants originating from fossil fuel vehicle emissions in Jakarta are already very worrying. The health of breathing and brain intelligence will continue to threaten the citizens of the capital city if these conditions continue to be tolerated.

"Don't underestimate this, the shift in the use of gasoline vehicles to electricity needs to be pushed as hard as possible to reduce emissions and air pollution in big cities, especially Jakarta," Sonny said in a written statement, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, August 15.

Therefore, Sonny, who served as Minister of the State of the Environment for the 1999-2001 period, urged the use of electric vehicles as public and private transportation to be implemented as quickly as possible, given the magnitude of the negative impact of pollutants, especially from the transportation sector.

According to him, the community can contribute directly to reducing the level of pollution by switching to using electric vehicles for mobility in Jakarta by taking advantage of the incentives provided by the government.

In addition, continued Sonny, the government must also spur the automotive industry to improve the domestic electric vehicle ecosystem, starting from prices, vehicle efficiency levels to supporting infrastructure.

"As a first step, incentives can be a sweetener to encourage consumers to switch but more importantly there is improvement in products and support for electric vehicles so that people will voluntarily use this non-BBM vehicle," he said.

Based on data from the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin), the amount of subsidies to be disbursed in 2023 is IDR 1.4 trillion for around 250,000 electric motors. This figure is confirmed to increase in 2024 with a value of IDR 4.2 trillion for 600,000 electric motorcycles.

Furthermore, the amount of electric car subsidies in 2023 is IDR 1.6 trillion and will increase to IDR 4.9 trillion in 2024. Meanwhile, electric buses will also receive subsidies worth IDR 48 billion in 2023 and IDR 144 billion in 2024.