Autonews Issue 2, 2017 Autonews digital magazine Edition 2 Q2- covers•• | Page 19

AUTONEWS - AA CLUB OF KENYA MAGAZINE – 19 AUTOBIO RITA KAVASHE exhaust fumes contributing up to 40 per cent of the particulate matter in urban areas. With this picture in mind, there is a desperate need for more effort to be put into mitigating the effects of second hand vehicle pollution in the country. Currently, Kenya has made great strides towards containing pol- lution from car exhaust emissions, but a lot more needs to be done. As a country, we are among the few in the world that made a decision to allow only low sulphur fuels vehi- cles in Kenya. The government later passed a law that prohibits vehicles older than 8 years to be imported in the country. The intention was to reduce toxic exhaust fumes emitted to the environment by cars older than 8 years. Harmoniously, the just concluded 2nd East African Manufacturing Conference, held in Kigali Rwanda, passed to champion for a five year limit on all second hand vehicle imports in East African member countries progressively by 2021. Rob de Jong, UNEP Head of Transport, noted that if African countries could set an age limit on imports, they could quickly reduce pollution and leapfrog technologies. He further noted that if these coun- tries impose higher import standards, majority of their fleet will soon be compliant. Despite all these efforts, there is still need for regulations that prohibit and discourage the dumping of sec- ond hand vehicles in Kenya promot- ing locally manufactured/assembled vehicles that are more environmental friendly. Locally, engine manufacture is guided by The Kenya Standard (KS) 155 regulation. The KS 1515 is an exhaust emission test that requires vehicle engines comply to set environmental requirements. These requirements state that no engines should emit dense blue or clearly visible black smoke and the engine speed should be at 2500 revolutions per minute (rpm). According to Section 27 (2) of the Environmental Management and Coordination (Air Quality) Regula- tions 2014, all commercial and pub- lic service vehicles should undergo emissions testing annually, while all private vehicles older than five years should undergo emissions testing once every two years. However, although this regulation has been in place for more than two years, Kenya is yet to fully operationalise manda- tory emissions testing. In support of these guidelines, all vehicles assembled locally undergo engine test for compliance with KS 1515 guidelines by the Na- tional Transport & Safety Authority (NTSA) through the Government Vehicle Inspection Center. This test guarantees that the engines fitted in all new vehicles meet the standard requirements for engine emissions. On this front, local assemblers have played key roles in partnering with the government and other stake- holders to create guidelines that, if implemented, will play a huge part in ensuring the environment is kept safe with as little emission as possible. The environment and sustainabili- ty is a major focus for every industry. There is need for the government, individuals and corporates to take a more proactive approach to envi- ronmental management and comply with environmental regulations. This World Environment Week, I ask that we as a country, make hard decisions towards conserving our environment and reducing the air pollution levels in the country through buying locally assembled vehicles against importing second hand vehicles. Rita Kavashe is the Managing Director of General Motors East Africa Ltd This article was first published in The Nation Newspaper. Rita Kavashe is the Managing Director of General Motors East Africa (GMEA) Ltd, reporting to the President and Managing Director of GM Africa & Mid- dle East Operations. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Education