Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) has called on motor vehicle owners to regularly service their cars to reduce emissions and improve air quality. This, officials from the environmental watchdog say, would contribute toward efforts to fight climate change. “We urge everyone who owns a car to regularly service it to help address the issue of car emissions,” Jean Marie Vianney Tuyisenge, Environment Inspector at REMA, told The New Times from the lakeside city of Rubavu where he attended a public sensitisation campaign on the issue. Smoke-emitting vehicles pose a danger to human health, he warned. He pointed out that car emissions have been linked to different types of cancers, while they also contribute toward the destruction of the ozone layer. “It’s one of the key contributors to climate change,” he said. Car owners should not confuse regular auto checkups with the mandatory motor vehicle controls, he said. “Motor vehicle control is done after a long time, whereas servicing your vehicle should be done regularly.” When vehicles are used in the right way, it has a positive impact on human life, Tuyisenge added. He said that an assessment conducted in the City of Kigali and the secondary cities of Huye and Rubavu had shown that many car owners and drivers were generally careless as far as auto maintenance was concerned. Many people rarely undertake mechanical inspection of their vehicles on a regular basis, he noted. “In some cases, samples we have taken have shown that some people don’t carry out auto checkups for over a month.” Eng. Bernard Kabera, Director of Materials Testing Laboratories Unit at Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), said car owners and drivers ought to know that they have a major role to play in efforts to protect the environment. “We have noticed that people did not know the link between car emissions and climate change, but they show a willingness to adjust when they get informed,” he said. “But it’s more than an issue of environmental protection; these emissions also have a direct impact on the health of people,” he added. Jean-Claude Nizeyimana, a driver whose car was among those randomly assessed in Rubavu town, said: “Some people do not understand that when car exhaust smoke is emitted into the atmosphere it endangers human life and the environment. There is a need for continued sensitisation.” He added, “Now, more than ever, we should consider electric cars. But since they are still few in the market we need to embrace the idea of regular mechanical inspection to keep emissions in check.” A mechanic in Kigali pointed to the fact that vehicle checkups are relatively still expensive, which could be discouraging some car owners from undertaking regular auto maintenance. “In most cases the cars that we check on a regular basis are either owned by public institutions or rich people,” he said. The awareness-raising campaign is jointly being conducted by REMA, RSB, Rwanda National Police, and Rwanda Space Agency. The main focus of the effort is the City of Kigali and secondary cities around the country.
