Progress in emission certificate process in vehicles

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

A significant progress could be seen in the number of vehicle owners who comply with the regulatory requirement to obtain emission certificate for re-conditioned vehicles.

"We have seen an improved response from the vehicle owners as meeting this requirement is necessary to obtain the revenue license. Unlike in the past, there is a genuine interest to ensure that vehicles are in order before the revenue license is obtained. This will contribute in maintaining a greener environment, Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) Vehicle Emission Testing Project Director A.W. Dissanayake told Daily News Business.

The certification was made compulsory for the Western province vehicles in 2008 November, while it came in to effect from 2009 June for North Central,Central and Southern provinces. It was implemented in Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Wayamba in 2009 December and in the Eastern Province in 2011 July. We will be covering the Northern Province shortly, he said.

The emission test culture is well established at present and this will not only benefit the environment, but the vehicle population as well. The specialized unit set up at the motor Vehicle Registrations Department with the support of Central Environment Authority has worked tirelessly to make this a success. While addressing the issues of implementation, the project has moved forward in reaching its target population, he said. There is well formulated plans to purchase relevant equipment and two types of machinery will be given to districts to ascertain the levels of emission.

The Colombo operations are on-going at present with the support of Department of Surveys and Standard, Central Environment Authority and DMT.

The project will be developed further in keeping with the changing requirements. There will be continuous training provided for the officers involved with the support of all four stakeholders in the project The vehicle owners are encouraged to carry out the testing without resorting to short cut methods as it will be beneficial in the long run. There will be a cost saving as well as fuel saving with corrective measures in place. There will be a fund created from the income of testing to be utilized in progressive action taken in the future, he said.

This project has become a model for South Asia as an effective programme where high standards and continuous monitoring is taking place. The project will be upgraded shortly as it has already established in the provinces where other aspects will be considered to be included for evaluation. There will be work towards new concept of environment sustainable transport where reduced vehicle emission will play a major role, Dissanayake said. There were 525,000 new vehicles added to the existing vehicle population in the country last year.