Used tyre jitters - Samuda warned about backtracking on old imports
Published:Tuesday | March 1, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Samuda warned about backtracking on old imports
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
The government seems set to lift the ban on the wholesale importation of used tyres despite continuing safety concerns locally and internationally.
The ban was imposed last year by Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Karl Samuda, but the licensing of used-tyre importers is scheduled to begin today as the first step in freeing up the imports.
But the Road Safety Unit at the Ministry of Transport has urged the Government to "tread carefully down this road".
The unit has said that while the use of used tyres is not new globally, "it has to be regulated to protect the consumers, driving public and all road users".
"Used tyres should be treated with a healthy degree of scepticism. The Road Safety Unit cannot wholeheartedly support the move towards allowing used tyres on the island, as the institutional framework to adequately ensure that they are safe for road users are not in place," the unit concluded.
When he put the brakes on used tyres last July, Samuda had said the government accepted concerns about the quality of those being imported.
At that time, Samuda added that the ban would remain in place until the Bureau of Standards Jamaica developed a regime to properly regulate the sector.
"We have had complaints by many authorities and the consuming public, to some extent, that these tyres that are not commercial tyres, but which are for cars and light vehicles, pose a threat if the integrity of the tyre is not adequate to meet the rigours of our roads and put our people's lives at risk," Samuda said at a press briefing then.
But last week, Samuda was singing a different tune, as he told The Gleaner that freeing up the used tyres, which cost 40 to 50 per cent less than new ones, would be good for cash-strapped Jamaicans.
"You have some people who are having real difficulty finding money to buy new tyres, so there is a heavy demand for used tyres," Samuda said.
He said the importation will be done using new rules established by the Bureau of Standards.
Last Friday, Stephen Farquharson, manager of the Standards Development and Certification Department at the Bureau, told The Gleaner that the new standards would be submitted to the commerce ministry this week.
Farquharson said the standards had been prepared and submitted to the ministry following consultations, but were taken back and adjusted based on some complaints.
"We have not compromised safety and other concerns, but we made some adjustments using international standards," Farquharson said.
He admitted that a proposed casing inspection technology, such as a shearographer which could detect internal problems with the used tyres, is not yet in the island, but argued that testing could take place visually.
"The machine would enhance the testing, but we can do visual inspection," Farquharson said.
The failure of the Government to acquire the machine to examine inside the tyres is one of the concerns of persons opposed to the decision to lift the ban.
According to the critics, visual testing is not enough to spot defects in the tyres which could result in loss of lives.