Buses may be notorious for belching toxic fumes, but the 11 tested for emissions last week were approved, even though they were each reported by SMS at least three times for polluting excessively.

The Malta Transport Authority (ADT) last week began a two-month testing schedule to make up for the six-month backlog accumulated after it suspended the system without informing the public.

In the first four days of testing, 80 vehicles of all kinds were inspected, but only 18 were slapped with the €46.59 fine for failing the test, figures obtained from the ADT show.

These figures were questioned by environment lobby group Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar which felt there was something "fishy" about the numbers.

"The only explanation I can think of is that there must be some kind of manipulation," FAA spokesman and medical practitioner George Debono told The Sunday Times when contacted.

"It could be that the owners of vehicles called in quickly to fix them before the test by replacing filters they would have purposely removed or by putting proper diesel fuel in their tanks, and then simply continuing as before. Alternatively, the standard of the test and the limits imposed may be too lenient in the case of buses," he added.

The system, suspended in January to be made more efficient, enables citizens to report polluting vehicles by sending the registration number via SMS. The authority has to receive reports from three different mobile phones before the vehicles are called in for testing.

Last month an auditor's report revealed the system had been halted, infuriating all those who felt their text messages had been ignored. Transport Minister Austin Gatt, who said he was not aware the system had been suspended, then demanded it start operating again.

The ADT decided it would heed all the 16,603 reports sent in the past six months, and said of all the reports made, 1,486 vehicles were eligible for testing since they were reported three times or more.

The figures for the first week of testing show that 189 vehicles were sent for, but only 80 showed up, of which 62 passed.

By contrast, a 2004 model Ford Ka, submitted for testing by The Sunday Times, failed, even though it was never reported for emitting visible fumes.

According to technical experts at the testing centre, vehicles that emit heavy smoke fail immediately through a simple visual test.

However, for a vehicle to fail, it does not necessarily have to be emitting heavy visible fumes, so more in-depth tests are carried out.

When a vehicle fails, the driver is fined €46.59, and must fix the fault causing the heavy emissions and bring back the vehicle for re-testing. If this process is skipped, or the person fails to show up for the test despite a second appointment, the road licence will not be renewed once it expires.

Dr Debono said many people had lost faith in the system because of what happened.

"What I can't understand is why we need three different people to make a report in the first place when the pollution is so constant and blatant. Why can't policemen or wardens simply take action on the road when they see it happening before their very eyes?" he asked.

Dr Debono said he recently witnessed a "typical" scene where a mechanical diesel-driven digger working at St George's Square, Valletta, was emitting "huge clouds of black smoke.

"I asked two policemen and ADT officers who were simply looking on why they didn't take action against the driver, but they merely shrugged their shoulders and dismissed it by saying it was an old vehicle."

Dr Debono's statement that people had lost faith in the system was supported by the ongoing timesofmalta.com poll, which found that only 17 per cent of the more than 1,000 respondents said they were still reporting vehicles.

Forty-three per cent said they never did, but 40 per cent said they had stopped reporting since the reintroduction of the service.

Interestingly, on Friday, several people who had not sent any SMS reports for a while received a text message from ADT thanking them for reporting a polluting vehicle and assuring them action will be taken following an investigation.

"Your cooperation is important to us," the SMS concluded.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com