Old vehicles to go off road by Jan

Old vehicles to go off road by Jan
By Ahmed Abdul Aziz (Our staff reporter/KHALEEJ TIMES)16 June 2008


ABU DHABI — By next January, 20-year-old light vehicles would go off the roads and the import of cars manufactured five years back would be banned, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Interior (MoI).

Colonel Ghaith Al Zaabi, Director-General of the Federal Traffic and Patrol Department in the MoI, told Khaleej Times yesterday that the decision of the Cabinet’s Services Committee is aimed at regulating licensing of light and heavy vehicles with the objective of reducing the rush on roads and to protect the environment from the emissions of the old cars.

He said that licences for cars manufactured in or before 1988 would not be renewed. He advised the owners of such vehicles to not apply for licence renewal from January 2009.

The licences of cars manufactured 15 years ago would not be renewed from January 2010, he added. According to Ministry of Interior’s latest statistics, the UAE has 1.8 million vehicles of different makes and manufacturing years. Import of used light vehicle would be allowed if it is not more than five years old and in the case of heavy vehicles not more than seven years old.

The decision also bans transfer of licence of vehicles aged more than 10 years. “It means that if you have a light car that was manufactured 10 years ago, you would not be able to sell it to another person,” Col Al Zaabi clarified.

However, vintage and classic cars have been exempted. “The classic and historic cars can be imported, if they fulfil the requirements of the technical check,” added Al Zaabi. Licensed taxis would be allowed to get renewal just for five years from the date of production of the car. The Ministry of Interior will coordinate with the National Transportation Authority to implement the decision.