DENR seeks to cut Metro air pollution

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is seeking a P13-billion loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in order to reduce air pollution in Metro Manila.

The government wants to bring down the current average total suspended particulates (TSP) in the metropolis by 20 percent annually until 2010 and attain "a good pollution index."

Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes said the government plans to extend financial assistance to passenger jeepney operators and help them buy either new engines for their units or acquire brand new vehicles altogether.

Jeepney operators agreed that upgrading their fleets would significantly help reduce air pollution.

"There are three sources of pollution. These are the mobile sources, stationary sources, and area sources. Vehicular emissions are the major contributor to the deterioration of Metro Manila’s air quality," Reyes said.

"So, to arrest air pollution menace in Metro Manila, the DENR conceptualized a strategy to reduce air pollution in the metropolis, which includes measures to deal with the three sources of pollution. This includes the PUJ upgrading program," he said.

Under the PUJ upgrading program, the government would offer loans to PUJ operators in three options, according to Undersecretary Roy Kyamko, deputy head of the National Anti-Environment Crime Task Force.

These are changing the power train — engine, transmission and differential, which would cost P300, 000 to P500, 000; purchase a brand new ordinary unit, which would cost P800, 000 to P1 million; or purchase brand new airconditioned unit, which would cost P1.1 million to P1.5 million.

Kyamko noted that the initial amount needed to realize this program is estimated at P4.55 billion, assuming that in the first year of its implementation, 10 percent of the total 67, 000 units of PUJs with franchise would avail of the plan.

"Assuming that 3,500 PUJ units would avail of the first option, around P1.05 billion would be needed. And if 3,500 more PUJ units would avail of the second and third options, around P3.5 billion would be needed," Kyamko noted.

Kyamko stressed that the strategy being laid out by the government to reduce pollution in Metro Manila is focused on upgrading passenger jeepneys, identified as the among the major air pollution sources.

However, succeeding programs would eventually focus on other vehicles such as buses and motorcycles.

Reyes said they are willing to support proposed tax exemptions for vehicle manufacturers who would sell engines or units for public transport use and be able to sell their engines and units at a cheaper cost in order to encourage operators with old fleets to upgrade or purchase new units.