wild places | wild happenings | wild news
make a difference for our wild places

home | links | search the site
  all articles latest | past | articles by topics | search wildnews
wild news on wildsingapore
  Today Online 27 Oct 06
Stricter emissions tests for diesel vehicles
938Live

FROM January, diesel-driven vehicles will have to go through more stringent smoke tests during mandatory periodic inspections.

This will mean higher inspection fees for diesel-driven vehicles that have not been maintained well. Vehicle inspection centres have indicated fees will increase to $17 for light vehicles and $26 for heavy vehicles.

Tammy Tan, spokesperson for Vicom, the centre for statutory vehicle inspection, said the increase in costs is to pay for the new equipment required for the test. "We've had to install new equipment throughout all our facilities. This cost us about $5 million. And there are running costs associated with the new equipment, which works out to about $2 million a year. So, we certainly need to recoup such costs. The new test will measure emissions under actual driving conditions."

The National Environment Agency said the new test is meant to reduce the number of smoky vehicles on the road, which contribute to health problems such as lung disease and respiratory disorders.

Vehicles affected include taxis, vans and heavy vehicles like trucks and lorries. If a vehicle is less than 10 years old, it must undergo an inspection once a year. Those more than 10 years old will undergo inspections every six months. The announcement of the new test follows the introduction of the more stringent Euro-IV emission standards and the ultra low sulphur diesel.
links
Related articles on Singapore: green energy
about the site | email ria
  News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes.
 

website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com