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Indonesia promotes sustainable transportation drive in urban areas

Xinhua, February 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Indonesian government had announced the results of its evaluation on air quality in urban areas (EKUP) throughout last year, a government official said here Wednesday.

The evaluation aimed at promoting the implementation of sustainable transportation drive in urban areas across the country, the official said.

The EKUP program was conducted on 44 cities across the country from March to October last year, and divided into categories of metropolitan, major cities and middle-small cities, a deputy of Pollution Control at the Ministry of Environment M.R.Karliansyah said. "Through the EKUP program, we encourage municipal administrators to implement environment-oriented transportation system concept in their respective cities," Karliansyah told a press briefing, adding that it can be carried out by reducing emission from transportation sector.

He said that results from the evaluation would be used as the base to provide technical recommendations and steps to further improve the air quality in their areas.

The EKUP program has been implemented since 2007 as part of Indonesia's attempts to have clear sky through its Blue Sky program.

The EKUP evaluation covered city administrations' commitment and capability in monitoring the air quality, reduce the emission from moving sources and improve public's participation to address air quality issue.

Cities awarded for their clean air throughout last year were Palembang, Surabaya, Central Jakarta, South Jakarta and Medan for metropolitan city category. For big cities, the award went to South Tangerang, Balikpapan, Pontianak, Malang and Padang.

Meanwhile, for Middle-Small city category, the award went to Ambon, Serang, Banda Aceh, Pangkal Pinang and Palu. Endi