I refer to the article regarding the parliamentary question put to Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett concerning statistics relative to vehicle registration (March 10).

The report of the statistics provided by the minister is hugely misleading and does not represent a true picture of Maltese car importation today. Although the number of new registrations per year has remained stable, there has been a definite migration from new to second-hand vehicles over the last few years. This shift has been mostly felt in the segment relative to passenger and commercial vehicles.

In answer to the parliamentary question put by Adrian Vassallo, Mr Mugliett said that on average new vehicle registrations account for 70 per cent while second-hand vehicles account for 30 per cent. Mr Mugliett, however, did not specify the time frame over which such an average was taken. Furthermore, no indication is given as to whether the figures relate to all types of vehicles including agricultural, buses, motorcycles, etc.

When totals for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 (as published by the National Statistics Office) are taken into consideration, average new vehicle registrations account for 63 per cent while average second-hand vehicles account for 37 per cent. To understand current trends however, one must look beyond averages. In 2002, new vehicles accounted for 68 per cent of passenger (including commercial) vehicle registrations while second-hand vehicles accounted for 32 per cent. In 2004, on the other hand, new vehicles accounted for a mere 54 per cent. With respect to commercial vehicles alone, which represent another source of increased environmental threat, a staggering 81 per cent of total registrations are second-hand imports.

The Association of Car Importers - Malta fails to understand why the government continues to allow old cars into the country when the average age of a private vehicle, of which there are around 200,000, is 11.8 years. Now that anyone can import new cars into the island, the government should adopt a single weight and a single measure and impose uniform standards for the same kind of product.