Environment

HCM City promotes ‘clean' buses

Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has proposed the Finance Ministry exempt import taxes for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered buses to encourage the use of this environmental-friendly means of public transport.
Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has proposed the Finance Ministryexempt import taxes for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered buses toencourage the use of this environmental-friendly means of publictransport.

The city authorised the Sai GonTransportation Mechanical Corporation and the Sai Gon Bus Joint StockCompany to launch a pilot programme using CNG-powered buses.

Under the programme, two buses will be put into operation on a trialbasis, according to the municipal transport department.

The city had plans to run 20 CNG buses by the end of this year, butmost transport companies have fallen short of the capital required topurchase the vehicles.

"CNG-powered buses are muchmore expensive than diesel-powered buses, making it difficult fortransport companies to afford them in spite of preferential policiessuch as low-interest loans," said the department's deputy director DuongHong Thanh.

A CNG-powered bus costs nearly 3billion VND (153,000 USD) while their diesel-powered counterparts costjust over a third of that.

If transport companiesare exempted from import taxes, it will cost them around 1.56 billionVND (79,560 USD) to purchase a CNG-powered bus, he said.

The tax exemption will encourage transport companies to use moreCNG-powered buses, which will help reduce environmental pollution whilealso saving fuel.

"CNG fuel costs about 50 percentless than gasoline or diesel oil while emitting 60 percent less carbondioxide than other kinds of fuels," he said.

CNGfuel has been used effectively in many other countries, including theRepublic of Korea , mainland China , Thailand and Singapore .

There were 754,000 CNG-powered buses in use throughout the world by 2007./.
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