Car enthusiasts taking a closer look of the 'green car'
new Toyota Prius, during the launching ceremony
held at the Jerudong Polo and Riding Club

Bandar Seri Begawan - Toyota yesterday unveiled its hybrid car, Prius, in Brunei Darussalam and touted "green cars" as a boon to its environment as well as its desire to reduce petrol subsidy-related spending.

At yesterday's launching of Brunei's first hybrid car, Toyota Prius, at the Jerudong Polo and Riding Club, Japanese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Hirose Noriki said Brunei could lead the way in the Mean region in promoting the "green" initiative.
"I think Brunei is a good country to set an example to Mean countries in 'greening' the country (with the introduction of the green car)," he said.

The ambassador added that if Bruneians opted to switch to green cars, it would be able to reduce the domestic consumption of petrol.

"When that happens, the extra petrol can be exported to increase the country's revenue. It can even help the government in reducing subsidy to petnaleum," he said, adding Brunei could "double benefit" from using "green cars".

The new Toyota Prius combines the powers of a conventional 1.8 litre of petrol engine and a nickel-metal hydride battery powered electric motor. The Japanese hybrid car uses lesser fuel and emits less toxic gas since the petrol engine kicks in only when it is needed.

Minister of Energy Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Hj Mohd Hj Daud told The Brunei Times cars in the Sultanate were the biggest emitter of carbon into the atmosphere contributing 53 per cent of carbon gas emission. However, the launch of the Brunei's first "green" car could be the light at the end of the tunnel.

Pehin Dato Hj Mohd said: "I hope that the green car(s) would help reduce carbon emissions and also help (fight) climate change." Meanwhile, Brunei's HSBC CEO Tareq Muhmood said the launching of the third generation of the hybrid car was "great", and that it was rime for Brunei to embrace the technology.

The company bought 13 of the new hybrid cars. He said: "The car is not the cheapest in its class, but I think we've got to go beyond thinking like that and what's the right thing to do."

NBT Brunei Sdn Bhd's Managing Director Ninan Chacko said, "This (launching of the hybrid car) is a small, but significant step to ensure that the Green Heart of Borneo will continue to be enjoyed in the future. We must adopt a long term view, even though there is currently no official compulsion to do so."

Invited guest at the event Hj Mohd Faisal, 39 who is an employee in the private sector, said that it was a "good idea" to purchase the car, but it would take time for the current community to switch to using a "green" car.

"In my opinion, I would not buy the car just yet because I already have an existing car, although it is good because it's green," he said.

However, he encouraged road-users who were looking at purchasing their first car, to consider the "green" car.

"This could be a good kickstart (or Bruneian communities to get this car, because the hybrid does not consume petrol all the time when travelling. This means that less carbon emissions are emitted into the air."

Hj Mohd Faisal added, "The general public should start making a positive move towards the green initiative. Eventually, within two to three years time, we should see at least 10 to 20 per cent, or more, road users switching to hybrid cars."

In response to a citation to a statement in a newspaper which stated that Brunei was not committed to the green initiative, a week later after the Copenhagen conference, Hj Mohd Faisal said, "This is our way of replying back to the negative message. We are committed to reducing the emission of carbon into the atmosphere," said Hj Mohd Faisal.

Pehin Dato Hj Mohd was present as guest of honour to officiate the launching of Toyota's hybrid car, Toyota Fritts, held at the Jerudong Polo and Riding Club.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

Comments (3)

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written by Wondering , January 16, 2010

The report leaves out one important fact. What is the price, can someone tell? Tq

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written by HUH , January 17, 2010

When you say Mean regions, you mean ASEAN regions right? What is Mean region?

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written by green lantern , January 18, 2010

maybe the govt can start the initiative by replacing all the BG mercs & jags used by the deputy perm secs onwards with these cars. surely it will make an impact when their foreign counterparts come here for meetings and our high officials arrive in their hybrids. it will show how committed our govt is to the 'green initiative'.

with the Prius' availability to the public, maybe Happy Motoring can bring in the Insight and the hybrid Civics that are sold elsewhere in the world.

And I hope, like Boustead training their staffs specifically for the R35 GTR, NBT had already specially skilled staffs/techs/mechs to handle any problems this new technology, in Brunei, may suffer. If we encounter problems, we don't want having to leave the car for weeks while waiting for NBT to invite a special japanese tech to arrive here to fix the car.

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