Jan 12, 2005, 8:49 PM

Over-aged cars must be discarded fast

TEHRAN, Jan. 12 (MNA) -- Head of the Iran Fuel Conservation Organization (IFCO), Mehdi Hashemi, says that 107 passenger cars aging over 30 years are trafficking in big cities consuming 3.5 million liter petrol per day.

However, if the over-aged cars are replaced with new ones operating with modern technology, the figure of petrol consumption will decrease to 1.5 million tons.

 

Hashemi, talking to Payam-e Iran Khodro monthly, criticizes SAIPA – a major car manufacturer in the country – for producing such pickups as Nissan Zamyad that applies old technology of engines consuming much fuels or Pride passenger car with a 20 year old technology.

 

IFCO is negotiating with SAIPA to replace some of its products with modern ones. IFCO has two priorities; firstly, to optimize the manufacturing companies and secondly, to discard over-aged cars.

 

Hashemi says that his organization has inked a contract with Iran Khodro to replace the old cars with the company’s new products.

 

He believes that apart from non-standard engines, the traffic jams and improper public transportation are two other reasons behind the high consumption of petrol.

 

IFCO plans to set up a number of laboratories to check if cars’ engines operate according to standards and consume minimum petrol.

 

Deputy manager of the Department of the Environment (DoE), Yusef Hojjat, has an optimistic viewpoint towards the car manufacturers. He says that in cooperation with the manufacturers, the DoE and IFCO could manage to stop 10 models of passenger cars like the Paykan and Pride cars previously operated by carburetors. These later vehicles were the most pollutant vehicles.

 

Hojjat believes that the petrol currently distributed across the country is not healthy at all since it has considerable amount of lead that must be separated from it.

 

He says the air pollution is increasing since petrol is cheap in this country and therefore it is consumed irrationally, there are too many over-aged public vehicles trafficking on streets, and the passenger cars are not technically checked up on a regular basis.

In the meantime, the secretary of Car Manufacturers Union, Mirkhani Rashti, said that due to the lack of sufficient and proper public transportation facilities, people need to use their private cars causing traffic and air pollution.

 

He also criticizes the oil industry for not building sufficient refineries to locally produce the petrol. He says that government should set up the refineries that produce gasoline too.

 

He believes that Iran needs to use gasoline-fueled (diesel) cars instead of petrol-fueled cars. This later policy has been taken in the developed countries that has reduced the air pollution considerably.

 

Meanwhile, the managing director of the Traffic and Transportation Organization in Tehran, Nasrollahi, says that huge consumption of fuel in Iran – 13 million liter petrol was consumed in 2003 in Tehran only – has come to the national economy as a shock.

 

The fuel consumption of nearly 1.6 million cars aging over 20 years old across the country costs some one billion dollars per annum.

 

The passenger cars being used in Iran have an average fuel consumption over 11 liters per 100 km while the figure is around 6 liters in accordance with the international standards, he said.

 

He also believes that the low value of fuel has encouraged the public to use their own cars as they feel safer and more comfortable.

 

Discarding the overused cars should be done as soon as possible. The plan should be budgeted by all beneficiary organizations equally.

 

 

 

ARA/MA

END

MNA

 

 

 

 

News ID 9955

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