950819

Jakarta introduces

lead-free gasoline

JAKARTA: Indonesia has started unleaded gasoline sales in Jakarta, the capital, in an effort to reduce pollution, the official Antara news agency said on Saturday.

Faisal Abda'oe, head of the state oil company, Pertamina, was quoted as saying up to 2,400 kilolitres of unleaded petrol would be supplied each month from West Java's Balongan refinery.

Abda'oe said the start of such sales in Indonesia, Asia's only member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), was a "contribution to government efforts to create a pollution-free living environment".

Unleaded Super TT petrol will be sold initially in Jakarta, among the world's most polluted cities, from seven filling stations at 1,000 rupiah (45 U.S. cents) per litre. Ordinary petrol now costs up to 870 rupiah (39 cents) per litre.-Reuter