USE OF UNLEADED PETROL (Steps to promote)

Mr Chin Harn Tong asked the Minister for the Environment (a) since the introduction of unleaded petrol in January 1991, what proportion of petrol sold in Singapore is unleaded; and (b) whether his Ministry is taking further steps to promote the use of the cleaner fuel.

The Minister for the Environment (Dr Ahmad Mattar): Mr Speaker, Sir, unleaded petrol now makes up 45% of the petrol sale compared with 30% before the introduction of the tax measures. As 10% of the cars cannot run on unleaded petrol, roughly half of the motorists, who have a choice, are using unleaded petrol now.

While we have made good progress in promoting unleaded petrol, I would like to encourage motorists who are still using leaded petrol to make the switch. It makes health as well as economic sense to do so. Some motorists are using leaded petrol because they believe that unleaded petrol can affect engine performance or even damage the engines. The experience of using unleaded petrol so far has proved that such a belief is unfounded.

Sir, public education to promote unleaded petrol will continue. I am hopeful that more motorists will use unleaded petrol as they realise its advantages. Our car replacement policies should also help to lower consumption of leaded petrol. Currently, new cars that run on leaded petrol only cannot be brought into Singapore. This will reduce the number of cars that cannot run on unleaded petrol. By 1st July 1992, all new cars imported will have fuel tanks which can only receive the smaller diameter unleaded petrol dispensers at the petrol stations. This will further increase the use of unleaded petrol as older cars are replaced by new ones.

Mr Speaker, Sir, if necessary, Government can widen the price differential in favour of the unleaded petrol, although we do not see any present need to do so.

Mr Chin Harn Tong (Aljunied GRC): Was the subject of unleaded petrol raised at the recent Malaysia/Singapore Joint Meeting on Environment held in Singapore last week?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Singapore delegation did raise the issue on the availability of unleaded petrol in Malaysia. In particular, we have requested our Malaysian counterpart to look into getting more petrol stations, especially those along the highway, to sell unleaded petrol. This will ensure that cars travelling in Malaysia can top up with unleaded petrol.