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| Sunday, 6 July 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Belching vehicle owners beware from January! by SHANIKA SRIYANANDA If you are an owner of a belching vehicle, beware beginning January 1, 2004, as fines ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 will be imposed and may even forfeit your licence, if found guilty of driving a vehicle belching noxious fumes into the environment. The Air Emission, Fuel and Vehicle Importation Standards which came into effect on July 1 will be fully enforced from January 1, 2004 making it illegal to drive any vehicle not roadworthy. These standards were introduced under the National Environmental Regulations gazetted in June 2000. Teams comprising officers of the Department of Motor Traffic and the Air Resources Management Centre of the Ministry of Health will conduct random checks on vehicles that are not roadworthy and ban them from plying the roads. The licences of drivers of such vehicles will also be confiscated. Dr. B. N. S. Batagoda, Director, Environment, Economic and Global Affairs of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, said that belching diesel vehicles emit more than 8 k value of noxious gases including lead, sulphur dioxide and particle matters whereas petrol vehicles emit more than (hydrocarbon) 1200 parts per million which were prohibited from being driven on the road. "Vehicles which do not conform to the specified standards will first be given maintenance orders, to get them repaired within a certain period of time. "If the authorities are satisfied with the results, the vehicle licence, will be returned", he said. Over 4,000 belching vehicles are detected by the officers of the Department of Motor Traffic annually. But, beginning from this month, checking of such vehicles will be intensified. Under the air emission standards for vehicles in use, any vehicle, with a discharge exhaust emission exceeding the set Air Emission Standards, (AES) will not be allowed to operate on roads. A certificate of compliance with the AES will be issued by the vehicle emission testing centre authorised by the Commissioner of Motor Traffic for every vehicle. According to Dr. Batagoda, 200 such centres will be set up islandwide with the help of the private sector and, the main centre - the Air Resource Monitoring Centre - with its officials comprising the Police, Motor Traffic Department, Central Environment Authority, the Ministry and the Ministry of Transport, will be on the alert over the functioning of these centres. Awareness programs on the new regulations will commence next month and the Emission Control Certificate will be issued only for vehicles that meet the required standards from January 1, 2004. |
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