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JAMBI, bhayaksa.net—- The unbearable racket caused by brong exhausts (non-standard, loud mufflers) on both motorcycles and cars across Jambi City has officially pushed local residents past their breaking point. Field observations and a surge of public grievances up to Tuesday, September 15, 2026, reveal that an estimated 75 percent of vehicles in the urban sector have modified their exhaust systems. This widespread trend has unleashed massive sound pollution along major avenues and deep into residential zones.
This chaotic situation has ignited a wave of public protests from residents who feel their basic right to peace and comfort has been stripped away. A Jambi City resident, who requested anonymity when interviewed on Tuesday (9/15), openly vented their severe frustration.
“I am under intense stress just from listening to these brong exhausts. Some people try to reason with the riders, but they just smugly snap back, ‘It’s my money, it’s my ride, I do what I want.’ So, where exactly is the law in all of this? Do police officers not feel this exact same agony when they are off-duty as regular civilians hearing this madness?” the resident asked in deep disappointment.
Identical outcries are echoing from every corner of the metropolitan area. A massive wave of exasperated residents from Jelutung, Thehok, Kebun Kopi, Simpang Kawat, and Broni have simultaneously voiced their anger over years of law enforcement negligence.
In Thehok, locals complain about thunderous midnight blasts that consistently wake up infants and terrify elderly residents. Meanwhile, community representatives from Simpang Kawat and Broni highlighted how busy intersections are regularly hijacked by teenagers flaunting their modified engines. Over in Kebun Kopi and Jelutung, the persistent roar of brong exhausts is blamed for drastically degrading the quality of life for families living along major roads. Citizens collectively argue that actions taken by the Traffic Directorate (Ditlantas) of the Jambi Regional Police have utterly failed to create a deterrent effect, leaving both reckless riders and shady merchants to operate without fear.
Why Are Brong Exhausts Explicitly Illegal?
From a regulatory standpoint, the deployment of these loud, modified mufflers directly violates multiple layers of Indonesian law:
- Police Traffic Law: Under Article 285 Paragraph (1) of Law Number 22 Year 2009 regarding Traffic and Road Transportation (UU LLAJ), any motorist operating a vehicle that fails to meet technical and roadworthy standardsโexplicitly including standard factory exhaustsโfaces up to one month in prison or a maximum fine of Rp250,000.
- Noise Pollution Emission Limits: Decibel thresholds are strictly bound by the Ministry of Environment. Motorcycles under 80cc are capped at 77 decibels (dB), 80-175cc at 80 dB, and those above 175cc at a maximum of 83 dB. Brong exhausts easily shatter these legal boundaries, classifying them as criminal environmental pollution.
- Ministry of Trade Regulations: The government prohibits industries from distributing or marketing non-SNI (Indonesian National Standard) compliant exhausts for daily road use. High-performance racing exhausts are legally restricted to official racing circuits and cannot be freely sold as standard street accessories.
Urgent Call for Inter-Agency Crackdown
The systemic lack of oversight and execution in Jambi City has raised serious questions among the public. If the Jambi Regional Police and local municipal police find it too difficult to intercept violators on the move, citizens are demanding to know why they haven’t joined forces with the Department of Trade and Industry and other relevant administrative agencies.
Joint raids must target the absolute root of the problemโthe accessory shops, custom modification garages, and underground distributors supplying these illegal goods across Jambi. Street-level checkpoints are viewed as a temporary band-aid that will never cure the epidemic as long as the contraband remains openly commercialized in the local market.
Total Eradication Blueprint
To restore sanity and silence to Jambi City, the community is urgently demanding aggressive, concrete policy actions from local leaders:
- Joint Commercial Operations: The Department of Trade must instantly revoke the business licenses of any workshop or retailer caught manufacturing, stocking, or installing street-illegal brong exhausts.
- Seizure and Destruction Penalties: Ditlantas Polda Jambi must enforce heavy-handed sanctions, including vehicle impoundment, driver’s license suspension, and forcing offenders to physically crush their brong exhausts on-site before installing stock replacements.
- Social Awareness Campaigns: Municipal authorities must launch aggressive anti-noise pollution campaigns across schools and local automotive clubs to reinforce a simple truth: “The public road belongs to everyone, it is not a private racetrack.”
As this report goes to print, citizens across multiple districts in Jambi City continue to wait for real, unyielding decisiveness from police officials and local government administrators to finally purge the city of this out-of-control sound pollution.
Reporter: Harvery
Editor: Bhayaksa.net Team
