By Rohan Abeywardena
The country's highly questionable compulsory vehicle emission test programme appears to be going from bad to worse with the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) yet to properly set up the independent Vehicle Test Monitoring Unit, which critics charge is a deliberate way of allowing corrupt testing centres to exploit the entire system.
Although two companies Cleanco and Laugfs Ecosri were given exclusive rights to carry out emission tests, sources said centres run by one particular company were found to be often violating rules and passing vehicles that should not pass because of the bad condition of their engines.
The apparent deliberate disinclination to enforce the law against violators by the DMT, sources said, had come even in the face of the Environment Ministry's Air Resource Management Centre (AIRMAC) officials having caught red handed a number of centres recently passing belching vehicles even in prime locations of Colombo and the surrounding environs.
There were also allegations that some of the corrupt centres were issuing bogus certificates without linking the information to the central computer, thus even depriving the State run Vehicle Emission Trust Fund the ten per cent proceeds that should be remitted to it from all such tests.
Although the vehicle testing was launched in November 2008 in the Western Province and then expanded to most other provinces by end 2009, the single monitoring unit that should have been in place from the beginning is yet struggling to get off the ground with retired Assistant Commissioner of Motor Traffic Anura Dissanayake at its helm.
Dissanayake who appears to be an expert at explaining why things could not be done told The Island that at present the monitoring unit has managed to recruit three technicians, trained at the German Tech, Katubedda, out of a list of some two dozen names sent to them by the College. "But we need to recruit at least ten; the problem is no one stays because people don't like to work with smoke and gas masks"
Besides, he argued that at present he could not recruit any permanent cadre, therefore appointments were only given on assignment basis. The result was that recruits leave when they get another job.
As a permanent solution he said they were now trying to get the Salaries and Cadres Commission to approve the recruitment of 40 certifying officers for the unit on a permanent basis with higher remuneration.
The Monitoring Unit Director said the problem was the same with graduates recruited by the AIRMAC, where the personnel turnover was very high.
The Island however learns that AIRMAC officers were much more disgusted with the inaction of the DMT and its monitoring unit taking follow up action against wrongdoers detected by them. If the situation continues many are likely to leave for jobs elsewhere.
Dissanayake claimed it was not possible to just take action as at times a vehicle that passes the test in January might fail an ad hoc test during the latter part of the year, for which one cannot blame the testing centre concerned as it might be due to bad maintenance by the vehicle owner in the interim.
But environmental critics point out that, for example, at testing centres at Koswatte and Orugodawatte officials had caught them red handed passing belching vehicles.
Dissanayake however maintains that he had requested from the Director of the Department of Measurement Units, Standards and Services, in writing, to carry out checks on such centres.
The Director also said in order to check any centre possible issuing of unrecorded testing certificates to deprive the State its share of the income, from January first next year all certificates will carry numbers issued by the Department so that it will be possible to check if any bogus numbers were found.
Meanwhile, a top source, at the Vehicle Emission Trust Fund, said that as an answer to numerous complaints against the monitoring unit and to finally make it active and competent they had already decided to remove Dissanayake, who is well past the retirement age. "We are now looking out for an efficient individual to replace him", he said.
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