Vehicle Pollution A Rising Concern
By Helena M Mahathir

Bandar Seri Begawan - Pollution from vehicles is something that deserves serious consideration, even though it is not considered a serious threat at this stage.

This was said by Dato Paduka Haji Hamdillah bin Haji Abdul Wahab, Deputy Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, during the seminar on "Vehicle Regulation, Emissions and the Environment: Global Developments and Implications for Negara Brunei Darussalam", held yesterday at The Empire Hotel and Country Club.

He went to say that while Brunei is reasonably free from air and water pollution caused by either industrial production or other intrusive development activities, the Sultanate has one of the highest car ownerships in the world, with 160,000 vehicles currently registered in the country.

With projected increases in population, Brunei can expect about 60,000 new drivers on the roads within the next ten years, and with no sign of reduced dependence on cars as the primary means of transportation within the country, aggregate emission levels in the fixture are likely to become an important issue even if they do not appear to be so now.

"While there are a variety of environmental concerns, air pollution caused by emissions from vehicles and industries is still a major contributing factor that threatens environmental sustainability," Dato Paduka Haji Hamdillah said.

He stated that in some countries, the level of pollution caused by such emission has been alarming and public authorities have to manage the challenge of developing appropriate measures for tackling the problem while developing healthy, safe and liveable cities.

"Brunei is a signatory to major international agreements and conventions on environment, and the government has introduced measures to regulate vehicle use and fuel quality to ensure that they conform to internationally accepted standards," Dato Paduka Haji Hamdillah continued.

"Like other countries in Asean, we follow what is called the 'Euro 2' standard of fuel quality for petrol powered cars, while for diesel powered vehicles, we are in `Euro 1' but planning to move straight to 'Euro 4'," he said.

"In Brunei, the sole producer is actively working on ensuring compliance and regional alignment.

A master plan for example, is in place to move towards Euro 13 in the medium term and Euro 4 in the long term. But much work and capital investment is still required to realise this road map and to achieve regional alignment," the deputy minister added.

"Meanwhile, in the short term, leaded gasoline has been phased out 10 years ago in Brunei, and the Land Transport Department enforces the exhaust emission standards and carries out inspections of roadworthiness for vehicles above 7-years-old."

Dato Paduka Haji Hamdillah added that in terms of vehicle regulations, fuel quality and environmental conservation and sustainability, he believes Brunei still has more to learn from the experience of others, where in places like USA, Europe and Japan, much work has and is being done on addressing the issue of vehicle emissions.

He expressed his confidence that the outcome of the seminar would be of great use in formulating policies for mitigating environmental challenges and for developing more liveable and healthy societies of the future, especially with the presence and participation of the various stakeholders - the academicians, policy makers, practitioners and members of the public.

The seminar was jointly organised by University of Darussalam (UBD) and NBT -a public and private sector partnership - with a series of presentations followed by a discussion panel with an interactive question and answer session.

Also in attendance were the Vice Chancellor of UBD, Dr Hj Ismail bin Hj Duran,an who delivered opening remarks, and the Managing Director of NBT, Mr Ninan Chacko. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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