A breath of fresh air

By Sherine Nasr

The regulation, which will soon be issued in the form of a law and should be passed next year, will in the first phase be strictly implemented in Cairo, Giza and Qalyoubia. The Ministry of the Interior will determine subsequently when the measure will be extended to all other governorates.

The Vehicle Emissions Testing programme is, in fact, just one component of a $55m USAID-funded project that is now being carried out to help improve the air quality in Cairo.

"The Environment Law issued in 1994 has set certain standards for emissions which a vehicle should not exceed," said Launa Napoli, Public Relations Manager of the Cairo Air Improvement Project (CAIP). "Now, we are taking a number of measures to help the public comply with the law," she added.

Over the past two months, staff of service stations belonging to the major oil companies have been trained in how to use and maintain the equipment for detecting emissions levels and how to present the procedures to the public.

"People get curious when they see the equipment and they often ask me what it is here for," said Walid Michael, manager of a service station who has been trained as an emissions analyser.

"So far, we have been providing the service for free," he said. There are already 25 service stations that have installed this facility.

The measure will not only reduce pollution rates, but will ultimately save both fuel and money. "A properly tuned engine definitely consumes less fuel. This fact has proved very attractive to taxi drivers in particular," said Michael.

Those cars that fail the test, on the other hand, will have to be repaired. "There are 36 repair centres that are now being built to help cars meet the set standards," said Napoli.

In many cases, a simple tuning to regulate emission levels is all a car will need in order to comply with the standards.

Supposedly, it is the private sector that will run and maintain the testing machines. Yet, the fact that each oil company will be able to set its own price for the service has caused a great deal of fuss among the public, particularly truck and taxi drivers. "It's nice to get my engine tuned, but what if I cannot afford the cost of the service? Will I have my driving licence withdrawn for good?" said Saad Wahba, a taxi driver.

Some stations are considering providing the service for free, in association with other services, such as changing the car cooling oil.

At this experimental stage, it has been proved that emissions from the majority of vehicles are much higher than they should be. "The worst are usually the taxis, because they make countless trips every day," said Michael. He added that even if the car is running well and not emitting smoke, this does not mean it is not polluting the air. "Other pollutants are just not visible."

There are more than one million vehicles now on the streets of Greater Cairo. The number grows by almost 30,000 every year.

The combination of growth in car numbers with uncontrolled industrial activities and energy consumption have made Cairo one of the most heavily polluted cities in the world. "Cairo is over the international safety level for every dangerous element," said Napoli.

The latest studies conducted by USAID have revealed that those Cairene workers most exposed to the effects of pollution, including traffic policemen, mechanics, bus drivers and others, have shown significant negative effects resulting from a combination of carbon monoxide and lead. "Sixty-two percent of the individuals studied showed signs of cardiopulmonary illness. We would guess that street vendors and other highly exposed groups could suffer similar effects," said Napoli. "Therefore, it was very important to define the main causes of pollution in the city so as to determine what can be done," she added.

The use of compressed natural gas, one of the cleanest burning of all fuels, is another component of the CAIP. "Egypt has substantial reserves of high-quality natural gas with discoveries still being made," said Napoli.

At present, there are two companies that help convert vehicles to natural gas. "The operation costs LE5,000, half of which is paid in installments over two years at zero interest," said Hamdi Mounir from the Natural Gas Vehicle Company.

Hundreds of cars, mostly taxis, are being converted to natural gas every year. "The measure has proven to be cost-effective. A taxi can save up to LE200 a month by converting to natural gas," said Mounir.

A pilot fleet of 75 buses using natural gas are now on the streets of Cairo, where they will soon be joined by 25 minibuses.

One of CAIP's specific objectives is to establish an air monitoring programme to measure lead and particulate matter levels in the air of Greater Cairo.

Lead is a cumulative poison that affects the nervous system, immune system, kidney, liver and blood vessels. Its worst effects are those on children, in whom it causes mental retardation.

A total of 36 monitoring stations will be installed in Greater Cairo and operated on a continuous basis. "The data from these stations will be used as a baseline to judge the effectiveness of future programmes to reduce lead and other particulate matter in the ambient air and to demonstrate the improvement of air quality," said Napoli.

Much attention is also being given to improving the technologies used by lead smelters in and around Cairo, which have been identified as a major source of lead exposure for humans. "It is estimated that the smelters emit about 1,100 tons of lead into the air annually over the Greater Cairo area," said Napoli.

The Lead Pollution Team will design a large-scale smelter incorporating environmental control technologies as a model that can be replicated. They will also assist a major public sector smelting company in upgrading its operations. "The CAIP will last for five years by the end of which, we hope Cairenes will be able to breathe a fresher air," said Napoli.