KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plans as of now to implement the end-of-life vehicle (ELV) policy under the revised National Automotive Policy (NAP) as it is not applicable in Malaysia, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.
On the other hand, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Dr Ong Kian Ming said the government would improve the roadworthiness so that old vehicles could be safely driven and would not endanger other road users.
“In the revised NAP 2019, there is no policy on ELV to be tabled because older cars, such as those above 10 years old are still being used in remote areas such as in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said in an oral question-and-answer session.
He was replying to a question from Lim Kit Siang (PH-Iskandar Puteri) who wanted to know if the revised NAP would affect the policy on the life span of the vehicle.
In responding to Lim’s original question on the current status of the review of the NAP, Ong said it was in the final stage and expected to be presented to the Cabinet soon, before announcement to be made by the end of this year.
“The review exercise of the NAP has been ongoing since February 2018, aimed at enhancing the existing NAP by introducing new technology elements such as next generation vehicle and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) as well as the new ‘mobility as a service’ sector,” he said.
On the hybrid and energy efficient vehicle (EEV) ecosystem, Ong said he would look into the matter after the presentation of the revised NAP.
“We will create a road-map for related issues and to work with the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change so that the EEV ecosystem can be expanded and upgraded,” he said in his reply to a supplementary question from Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) who wanted to know about the EEV ecosystem in the country. -- Bernama