Second-hand cars may cost more if President Uhuru Kenyatta
succeeds in his push to implement a regional air pollution deal that
calls for a lower age limit for used-vehicle imports.
Mr
Kenyatta told the United Nations Environment Assembly conference in
Nairobi that he would host East African Framework Agreement on Air
Pollution and push for its implementation.
The
agreement reached in 2008 recommended the slashing of the age limit for
imported cars, in a raft of measures intended to promote a cleaner
environment.
“In furthering the agreement on air
pollution, we hope to repeat the success we have achieved with the ban
of plastic carrier bags, and we look forward to global support in this
effort,” he said on Tuesday.
The agreement led to an
East African Community (EAC) resolution has recommended the slashing of
the age limit for imported cars to five years.
Used cars tend to be worse for the environment than newer ones due to their declining fuel efficiency as they age.
Kenya only allows the import of second-hand cars not older than eight years while Tanzania has set its limit at 10 years.
Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan do not have any such limits. On average, cars in the region are 15 to 20 years old.
Second-hand
imports are highly popular with the middle-income earners as they are
cheaper. New cars are out of reach for the majority, with most dealers
only focusing on a few wealthy buyers, government, big companies and aid
agencies.
“Enact regulations to restrict the age of
imported vehicles and to ensure that imported gasoline vehicles are
equipped with functioning catalytic converters by 2011,” says the
delayed Framework Agreement President Kenyatta is pushing for its
implementation.
The agreement also calls for minimum agreed emission standards and improved fuel quality.
Mr
Kenyatta reckons that environmental matters will be central in his
development agenda since evidence had shown that pollution was a major
cause of ill-health, food shortage, a lack of clean water and
destruction of marine life.
“The ban (plastics bag) may seem only a small step. In fact, it has already cut plastic pollution substantially,” he said.
The
ban on plastic carrier bags came into force on August 28, which means
that anyone found selling, manufacturing or carrying faces fines of up
to Sh4 million or prison sentences of up to four years.
It took Kenya three attempts in more than years to finally effect the ban.
Industrialists
lobby Kenya Association of Manufacturers said the ban would cost 60,000
jobs and force 176 companies to close shop. The government says that
environmental concerns were more important than commercial interests.
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