Premium In Java And Bali Will Be Lost Starting 2021, KLHK: Alhamdulillah

Illustration. (Angga Nugraha / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) stated that sales of Premium fuel oil (BBM) in Java, Madura and Bali (Jamali) will be stopped starting January 2021.

Director General of Pollution and Environmental Damage Control (PPKL) MR Karliansyah said the decision to remove the premium was conveyed by the Operations Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) at a meeting last Monday.

"Thank God, last Monday night I met with the Director of Operations of Pertamina. He said that as of January 1, 2021, the premium in Jamali in particular will be eliminated and then it will follow other cities in Indonesia," he said, in a webinar broadcast via YLKI.ID Youtube, Friday, November 13th.

Karliansyah said the government is committed to controlling air pollution from motorized vehicles. This commitment is also in accordance with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution Article 28H paragraph (1) and Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management.

Article 28H paragraph (1) states that everyone has the right to live in physical and spiritual prosperity, to have a place to live and to have a good and healthy living environment, and the right to obtain health services.

"Air is one of the essential elements. Humans can survive about 3 weeks without food, can survive 3 days without drinking. But without oxygen the human brain can only last 10-15 minutes," he said.

According to him, there are three causes of air pollution in Indonesia, namely forest / land fires, transportation and industry. Meanwhile, air pollution in big cities in Indonesia is predominantly caused by motor vehicles.

Based on a study by the Asian Development Bank in 2000, he said, the contribution of motor vehicle emissions to air pollution in Jakarta contributed 71 percent to nitrogen oxygen and 15 percent sulfur dioxide.

In 2010, Karliansyah said, KLH conducted a comparative study on health activities against air pollution. The results show that the health costs of the residents of Jakarta range from Rp. 697.9 to Rp. 38.5 trillion. These costs are incurred to treat asthma, ARI, pneumonia, to chronic respiratory / lung constriction.

Because of this, he said, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry strives to replace fuels that are more environmentally friendly. On April 7, 2017, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Decree No.20 of 2017 concerning Quality Standards for Motor Vehicle Exhaust Emissions for New Types of Categories M, N and O, which is the basis for the implementation of Euro 4 standard fuel

"This regulation reduces the maximum level of sulfur in gasoline and diesel from 500 ppm to 50 ppm," he said.

But unfortunately, in the midst of these efforts, gasoline sales data still showed premium and pertalite which had RON below 91 still dominating. Premium, which has RON 88 numbers, still dominates 55 percent of gasoline sales and Petralite, which has RON 90, occupies 33 percent of sales.

Karliansyah admitted that the quality of environmentally friendly fuel is indeed more expensive than low quality. So that people who want to buy low quality fuel are still high.

Even though for vehicles used today, technology is no longer suitable for premium, Petralite or Solar. "This is a challenge that we must face together," he explained.