ISLAMABAD, Oct 12:  The Engineering Development Board (EDB) has advised the Islamabad capital territory administration to introduce a system of annual vehicle fitness certification for both public and private vehicles.

At present, only public vehicles are required to get fitness certificates.

The EDB sub-committee on safety, quality and environmental standards of the Quality Standardisation and Certifications Group at its meeting here on Wednesday recommended that annual vehicle fitness certification system should be introduced in the federal capital as a model which could be replicated by provinces.

The meeting chaired by the chief executive officer of EDB, Aitzaz A. Niazi, said unmonitored and unchecked conditions of vehicles in the absence of proper roadworthiness certifications defeated all efforts for fuel efficiency, environmental protection and road safety.

It was suggested that the vehicle fitness certification should be outsourced to the private sector with minimum required diagnostic facilities.

A complete check-list for vehicles drafted by the board was also circulated and the stakeholders were requested to send their inputs. It was decided that future models of vehicles at least should have proper fog lights and back-seatbelts with locking retractors. A meeting with local manufacturers will be arranged shortly in this connection.— Our Reporter