Used car imports in Gabon are shut down
Posted on novembre 19, 2013 by Frank
For most people living in developing countries, buying a brand new car sounds like a dream more than a possible action. Used vehicles are treated like treasures, maintained with great care and repaired over and over again, until they are truly unable to take the road again. Gabon’s Council of Ministers made a move that angered many people: it will now be illegal to import vehicles that have been produced more than 3 years ago.
This one won’t make the cut!
The official reason: protecting the environment
Government officials mentioned that old cars produce a lot more pollution than their technologically-advanced counterparts, which are equipped with better pollution filtering systems. By putting a ban into place, Gabon would get progressively get rid of a major source of carbon emissions, which would help to compensate for the thermal power plants that are currently supplying electricity to Libreville and other cities. Banning old vehicules is less expensive (for the government) than building costly solar panels!
Developed countries did put in place some programs to progressively remove old cars from the roads, using subsidies as an incentive for their owners, but almost none of them took measures as drastic as the recent import ban. In Quebec, for example, used cars that are older than 10 years must be inspected to make sure that pollution filters are still working fine.
It was also said by the Council of Ministers that used cars create more accidents and are therefore dangerous for the inhabitants of this African country. This is a pretty sloppy reason but without statistics, it is hard to tell.
A bill influenced by new cars’ dealerships?
Many car drivers believe that this decision was made to satisfy new car dealerships in Libreville, the capital of Gabon. Right now, they face increasing competition from the used car market: close to 20 000 cars are imported each year from Europe, in comparison to only 5 000 new cars. People dealing with new vehicles probably have a lot more money in their hands, though, which means more political influence… once againm, money makes the world go round!
Taxi drivers and customers do not agree
On one side, there is a wide dissatisfaction amongst the taxi drivers, whom sometimes acquires vehicles without official papers in order to operate their business in a cheaper fashion. This decision will make the taxi industry a lot more expensive to operate, putting huge stress in the hands of families that are already struggling to send their children to school. Taxi’s customers, though, believe that old vehicles are indeed increasing the amount of accidents. So far, concerns were not expressed about the possible rise in the price of a taxi run.