Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah Friday said that most of road accidents occurred due to poor condition of vehicles and this was one of the key issues of his government’s aims to resolve by establishing Modernized Vehicle Inspection and Certification System for all types of vehicles in the province.
This, he said while addressing a signing ceremony of the Concession Agreement signed between Sindh Transport department and a Swedish firm Opus Inspection for Vehicle Inspection & Certification System (VICS) here at the CM House, said a statement issued here on Thursday.
The ceremony was attended by Sindh Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, P&D Chairman Mohammed Waseem, Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi, representatives of Swedish Company and others. He said that presently there were approximately 4.78 million vehicles including 2.98 million motorcycles registered in Sindh.
The presence of unfit vehicles on roads was not only causing environmental pollution but also causing road accidents, he added. Murad said that the sole purpose of the project was to ensure the safety of people as the death in many road accidents were caused by decrepit vehicles.
Adding that under the project the well-equipped Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI) Centers would be established in fixed as well as mobile form at divisional or district levels to ensure the soundness of vehicles.
He further said that the commercial vehicles of all ages and other vehicles having a life of more than 5 years would have to get fitness certificate from Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI) Wing through scientific inspection, he said.
Murad said that this would reduce 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 inspections and it would increase citizen confidence in the transportation infrastructure and develop employment opportunities.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the government was sincere in its efforts to preserve not only the environment but also lives of the people. The VICS project would be a revolutionary step in the field of Road Safety and Environmental protection.
The concession agreement was signed by provincial Secretary Transport Abdul Raheem Soomro and Vice President of Opus Mr James E Stand.