FOREIGN VEHICLES ENTERING SINGAPORE (Emission standards)

FOREIGN VEHICLES ENTERING SINGAPORE:

(Emission standards): 1.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) how will his Ministry ensure that foreign vehicles entering Singapore on a frequent or daily basis meet the various emission requirements, such as chemical, noise and air pollution,

Column:261

stipulated by LTA; (b) whether regular inspections of these foreign vehicles for various emission levels are being made; and (c) will his Ministry also consider issuing Certificates of Road Use for the foreign vehicles that have passed the various emission levels and to require them to undergo annual inspection to renew these Certificates.

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): The National Environment Agency (NEA) regulates vehicular emissions under the Environmental Pollution Control (Vehicular Emissions) Regulations. The regulations stipulate the exhaust and noise emission standards for all motor vehicles, including motorcycles.

More than 99% of foreign registered vehicles plying Singapore roads are Malaysian registered vehicles. They are subject to the same enforcement standard imposed on Singapore smoky vehicles. NEA works closely with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to conduct regular enforcement blitzes against smoky and noisy vehicles on our roads. To ensure that vehicles entering Singapore meet these requirements, NEA deploys enforcement officers to check on smoky vehicles coming through our immigration checkpoints. Vehicles, including foreign-registered vehicles and motorcycles, caught emitting smoke are booked and offered compound fines. Malaysian-registered heavy vehicles such as lorries that are caught emitting excessive black smoke at the checkpoints are made to undergo a smoke emission test; if they are found to emit black smoke exceeding 70 Hartridge Smoke Units, or HSU, which measures the opacity of smoke emission, they would be turned back to Malaysia. The HSU has been tightened over the years from 85 in early 1999 to the current standard of 70.

Column: 262

I am pleased to inform the House that as a result of our enforcement efforts, Malaysian-registered vehicles plying Singapore roads found to emit black smoke have decreased from 16.2% in 1996 to 2.1% in 2004, in spite of more stringent standards imposed. Malaysian-registered motorcycles found emitting smoke have also decreased from 8.8% in 1996 to 3.0% in 2004.

On the issue of subjecting foreign vehicles to regular inspections, I would like to clarify that under the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic (Convention), which serves to facilitate cross border traffic, foreign-registered vehicles that have met the technical requirements stipulated in the Convention are allowed entry into Singapore. There is no requirement for foreign vehicles to be inspected regularly as a condition for entry, and imposing such a requirement would place Singapore in breach of its obligation under the Convention.

Although we do not require foreign-registered vehicles to undergo annual inspections, the public can rest assured that the NEA will continue to work closely with the LTA to review our enforcement standard periodically and take effective action against smoky and noisy vehicles on our roads.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim (Nominated Member): Sir, I live in Woodlands and I travel down BKE every morning during the peak hours. In my car, I can see foreign vehicles - I would not name the country - with noise pollution. Even in my air-conditioned car, I can hear the loud noise and I can see smoke. So my question is: what is the frequency of checks during the peak hours? If I could quote a newspaper today, environmental pollution is " zhai liu zi sun ". We are committing a crime of leaving the price to our future generation. So I hope NEA and LTA can increase the frequency of checks during the peak hours.

Column:263

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, we are quite happy with the current enforcement procedures that we have in place. But if the hon. Member knows of any vehicle that has violated our pollution control, she can take down the vehicle number and report to NEA and we will definitely check them. But I want to assure the Member that our enforcement standards at the Immigration Checkpoints are, in fact, very good, based on the figures that I have cited. But if she knows of any vehicle coming in from foreign countries which emit black smoke, do call the NEA hotline, and we will deal with the problem.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim: Sir, actually I have given feedback many times in my email to LTA and the Traffic Police, and I always get a standard reply. That is the reason for bringing up this issue. I hope NEA and LTA can increase the frequency of checks during the peak hours because that is the time when many vehicles can slip past.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I will get my officers from NEA to check with LTA on the feedback that it received from the hon. Member, and we will deal with that.