Search the Community

As part of Singapore's overall plan to achieve higher air quality standards, a tighter emission standard for in-use diesel vehicles will be implemented from Jan 1, 2014, as annouced at this year's Budget Deabate. All such vehicles will need to achieve a smoke opacity test result of 40 Hartridge Smoke Units (HSU) or lower during their mandatory vehicle inspections for road tax renewal. HSU is a measurement of the opacity of smoke that is emitted. The National Environment Agency (NEA) has been working closely with the authorised vehicle inspection centres (VICOM, JIC Inspection Services and STA Inspection) to alert owners whose vehicles show borderline results during their mandatory inspection, so that they may take the necessary actions to service their vehicles before Jan 1, 2014. The adoption of the revised smoke opacity limit will minimise smoke emissions from diesel vehicles plying Singapore's roads. A six-month grace period will be introduced for vehicles that have borderline test results, to give time for vehicle-owners to adjust to the higher standards. From Jan 1 to Jun 30, 2014, owners of diesel vehicles with smoke opacity test results between 41 and 50 HSU will be issued warning letters. Vehicles with smoke opacity test results exceeding 50 HSU will still be fined, in accordance with the current regulations. From Jul 1, 2014 onwards, owners of vehicles with smoke opacity test results above 40 HSU will be fined up to $5,000. Motorists should get their vehicles properly serviced or repaired if they fail the smoke opacity test. From Jan till Sep this year, there have been 5,809 enforcement cases against smoky diesel vehicles; 2012 saw 6,381, showing an increase every year. As such, NEA said it is committed to ensuring clean and safe air in Singapore. Stringent enforcement action against smoke emissions from motor vehicles, in tandem with the tightening of emission standards for diesel vehicles over time, is part of Singapore's overall plan to reduce domestic emissions of particulate matter and achieve higher air quality standards. Motorists can help to ensure cleaner air for all by practising good driving habits, servicing their vehicles regularly, and avoiding overloading their vehicles. http://ride.asiaone.com/news/general/story/tighter-emission-standards-use-diesel-vehicles#sthash.caczgvcG.dpuf

Tighter checks on carpark wardens promised by HDB The Straits Times reported that the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has promised to step up its carpark monitoring with tighter checks, after an unsatisfactory report card from the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) on Wednesday. The AGO's annual report found that both statutory boards had been lax in monitoring their parking wardens. Some of these wardens, who were hired under contracts, failed to check all vehicles, others did not turn up for duty at all. 88 surprise checks conducted by the AGO found five instances where patrolling officers were not present at their patrol sites, despite indicating that they were. It also found 26 instances where wardens did not inspect all vehicles in the carparks, although they were required to do so. An HDB spokesman said it will be conducting more checks on wardens to ensure compliance. It will also introduce e-parking systems at "more carparks where it is technically feasible to do so". URA will do the same for all of its 200 off-street carparks where feasible. E-parking systems have already been implemented at 368 of the existing 1,800 HDB carparks. This minimises the need for manual checks by wardens.