RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Most road accidents happen due to mechanically malfunctioning vehicles, and this is one of the key problems his government aims to resolve, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Friday.

“The presence of unfit vehicles on roads is not only causing environmental pollution but also causing road accident,” he said in a speech at the Chief Minister’s House. There are approximately 4.78 million vehicles registered in Sindh alone, he went on, including 2.98 million motorcycles.

He was addressing the signing ceremony for an agreement between the Sindh Transport Department and the Swedish firm Opus Inspection for the vehicle inspection and certification System (VICS).

The sole purpose of the project is to ensure people’s safety, he said, and as the deaths in too many road accidents result from the use of decrepit vehicles.

Under the project, well-equipped Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI) Centres will be established to ensure the soundness of vehicles using roads and highways, and the MVIs will be in both fixed and mobile forms at divisional and district levels, the chief minister explained.

Under the project, commercial vehicles of all ages and vehicles having a life of more than five years will have to get fitness certificates from the government’s Motor Vehicles Inspection wing, and this will be done “through scientific inspection,” he said.

Provincial transport minister Syed Nasir Shah said that of the 17 stations in the province, seven will be in Karachi.