KARACHI: The Sindh government and a Swedish vehicles fitness inspection firm, Opus International Inc., signed an agreement here on Friday for introducing modern vehicle inspection and certification system (VICS) for all types of vehicles for the safety of road users, which would be extended to the whole province.

There are approximately 4.78 million vehicles, including 2.98 million motorcycles, registered in Sindh. Most of the unfit vehicles on roads do not only cause environmental pollution, but also road accidents due to their lack of fitness.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that most of the road accidents happened due to mechanically unfit vehicles. This was one of the key issues his government wanted to resolve while establishing modernised vehicle inspection and certification system for all types of vehicles in the province, he said.

The signing ceremony was held here at the CM House and attended by representatives of the Sindh government and Swedish company.

The CM said the sole purpose of the project was to ensure safety of people as deaths in many road accidents were caused by decrepit vehicles. Under the project, well-equipped motor vehicle inspection (MVI) centres would be established in fixed as well as mobile forms at the divisional or district levels. “Under the scope of the project, commercial vehicles of all ages and other vehicles having a life of more than five years would have to get fitness certificate from the MVI wing through scientific inspection,” he said.

Transport Minister Syed Nasir Shah in his speech said: “Scope of the project is to inspect all the vehicles in compliance [with] international standards and specifications of vehicle testing in a uniform manner.”

Under the project, 17 MVI stations, including seven in Karachi, would be set up in the province.

The CM said the initiative would reduce fatalities and traffic-related injuries due to mechanical failure of public vehicles and noise pollution through controlled proactive vehicle inspections. It was bound to promote green environment by controlling vehicular emissions. The project would improve service delivery and transparency in vehicle inspection and it would increase citizen confidence in the transportation infrastructure and develop employment opportunities, he said.

The agreement was signed by provincial transport secretary Abdul Raheem Soomro and the vice president of Opus, James E. Stand.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2017