WORLD> Asia-Pacific
Jakarta extends car free days
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-03 17:08
JAKARTA -- Jakarta will expand car free day in March in a bid to improve air quality, a paper said Tuesday.

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Head of Jakarta Environmental Management Board  (BPLHD) Peni Susanti quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying that each municipalities will have at least twice car free day events in a month.

"Each of five municipalities will take turn in participating," she said.

The close-off areas will include Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta, Jl. Lt. Jen  Suprapto in Cerntral Jakarta , Jl. Pramuka in East Jakarta, part of the Old Town area in West Jakarta and Jl. Sunter Selatan in North Jakarta.

The Jakarta administration has held the eight-hour-long car- free event 21 times, or every Sunday, since September 2007.

According to BPLHD data, the number of dust particles in the air on car free day drop by 34 percent on average, carbon monoxide drops 67 percent and nitrogen oxide 80 percent.