Car importers to fund half of car scrappage scheme

Car importers will be forking out 50 per cent of the rebate paid to those who scrap their old car to buy a new one, according to Finance Minister Tonio Fenech.

Launching the new car scrappage scheme, which began on Friday through the publication of a legal notice, Mr Fenech said 3,000 old cars could be scrapped with their owners being entitled to a subsidy of up to €2,000 of the value of their new Euro V car.

The car scrappage scheme was originally launched last year and the target of 2,000 cars was quickly reached, prompting the government to extend it by another 1,000. The scheme then had to be suspended when it was fully taken up.

Mr Fenech said the scheme was just one of a number of measures the government was implementing to bring down CO2 emissions. One such measure, he said, was the increase in the registration tax for cars with Euro I to Euro III engines.

The registration tax was aimed at discouraging the importation of old second-hand cars. Nineteen per cent of vehicles registered last year had Euro I to Euro III engines.

He also mentioned the Delimara power station extension project and the interconnector cable connecting Malta to the European power grid.

The Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Mario de Marco said cars on Malta’s roads had an average age of 12 years.

There were 740 cars for every 1,000 inhabitants, a ratio that was the fifth highest in the world after the United States, Lichtenstein, Monaco and Luxembourg.

He said the public transport reform, which was “falling into place”, was operating with Euro V engine buses, much cleaner than the previous bus fleet. This would bring about a decrease of 55 per cent in carbon monoxide, a drop of 48 per cent in hydrocarbons and 78 per cent less nitrogen oxide. Particulate matter was expected to drop by 94 per cent, he said.