Mozambique is to ban, by the end of next year, the use of leaded petrol, following a decision taken during a recent meeting of Sub-Saharan Environment and Energy Ministers in Nairobi, reports Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
The Mozambican government has set up a team, consisting of technicians from various ministries and from the fuel distribution companies, to work out a national strategy to implement the decision. The draft should be ready by the end of this year.
The ban was adopted after it was acknowledged that leaded petrol pollutes the environment and endangers public health.
A source in the Environment Ministry told "Noticias" that the Nairobi meeting was to reassess a similar decision taken in Dakar two years ago.
"The Environment and Energy Resources Ministers of Sub-Saharan Africa had agreed, two years ago, in Dakar, that the region, despite all its difficulties, has the capacity to introduce the use of unleaded petrol by 2005", the source said.
Environment Minister John Kachamila said that during the Nairobi discussions some countries, including Mozambique, expressed fears that the changeover would be impossible, because that it would imply changing the engines of the vehicles.
But technicians from the World Bank, who took part in the meeting, explained that the experience of some other countries showed that there is no need to change the engines.
Kachamila said that, although the plan to introduce unleaded petrol is to be completed before the end of this year, its implementation is only to start in 2005.
Unleaded petrol has been available in Mozambique for several months, but initially it was only distributed in Maputo.
Fonte: AIM
