The Jakarta administration says all public transportation and government vehicles will run on natural gas by April.

"The administration has promised to make the switch as Jakarta is a pilot project for a national program called Blue Sky. Jakarta is the third dirtiest city in the world, mostly due to the toxicity of diesel fuel," said Jakarta Mining Agency head Peni Susanti on Monday.

The administration wants all vehicles traveling city roads to drive on natural gas by 2010, she said.

To support the project, the mining agency has signed three memorandums of understanding with the governor, state oil and gas firm Pertamina and state gas company PNG to build a number of natural gas stations in Jakarta.

The first MoU is on backing the Blue Sky program, the second on the supply of natural gas and the third on a natural gas piping system.

Peni said Monday two alternative-fuel stations would be built for private cars.

"The stations already built are at the busway pools on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan in North Jakarta and Jl. Daan Mogot in West Jakarta," she said.

Peni said the piping system would link the two stations.

Three-and-a-half kilometers of pipeline will be installed under Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan by April, and 1.2 kilometers under Jl. Daan Mogot by August.

Peni said eight areas were linked to the piping system with another six to follow in the near future.

With his sights fixed on making the ambitious Bylaw No. 2/2005 on air pollution control a success, Governor Sutiyoso pointed out the other benefits of a natural gas system. "Gas is a lot cheaper than diesel fuel," he said.

The price of natural gas stands at Rp 1,550 per mille standard cubic meter per day (MMS CD), though Pertamina warns due to limited supply and increased demand the price will jump to Rp 3,000 by April.

In comparison, the price of diesel fuel is Rp 4,500 per liter.

The administration is yet to secure the support of the Organization of Public Transportation Owners (Organda DKI) for the project. "We hope public transportation owners will agree to run their vehicles on natural gas," said Jakarta Environmental Management Agency head Kosasih Wirahadikusumah.

Besides Organda, the administration plans to cooperate with the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers in the provision of natural gas conversion kits, he said.

"In that way, they can profit from this program through the supply of components and spare parts," he said.

Source: Jakarta Post