The Public Transport Association said vehicle roadworthiness test (VRT) stations and the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) were using the wrong specifications in emissions tests on buses, and the PTA was not prepared to accept this.

It was commenting on a bus emissions report, saying it noted that the Malta Standards Authority had not realised there was a technical mistake in standards measures for heavy vehicles in Malta as issued by the Transport Authority.

Neither had the MSA realised that the VRT stations’ measuring equipment was faulty, the PTA added, pointing out it was sending a copy of a report which showed a shortcoming in the test result where idle RPM and peak RPM were concerned.

The PTA said that when it asked for an explanation about how to read the test, the VRT station operator said the reading was taken on three bands: revving at 1,000, at 2,000 and at 3,000 rpm.

But, the PTA said, the 3,000 rpm reading applied only to private cars, not to large vehicles, which in Malta did not do more than 2,500 rpm. On recommendations by the MSA about driver and passenger security, the PTA said these were certified by the VRT stations.

The MSA should long ago have realised that VRT tests for all pre-1979 vehicles in the country were generous and did not conform to EU standards. Had the MSA done that, the PTA said, the government would have honoured its 1995 agreement with the PTA and would have replaced the old buses with new, EU-conforming vehicles.

Fuel pumps had the recommended seals, the MSA should know and Transport Authority officials inspected them at intervals, the PTA said. Emissions in the country would decline drastically if carriageways were introduced with priority for public transport, as was available in Europe.

The PTA said it was not against emissions tests but it could not accept the wrong specifications. For these specifications to be adapted to large vehicles in the country, the final reading should be based on 2,500 rpm, not on 3,000 rpm.