Lastimoso said that with the failure of the Investment Coordinating Committee (ICC) of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to submit to the Cabinet the proposed contracts for the motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS), this key component could be implemented only on Jan. 1, 2004 "at the earliest."
The MVIS is supposed to determine if road vehicles plying the streets are roadworthy and if their smoke emissions are within the standards of the Clean Air Act.
Lastimoso told the joint committee, headed by Sen. Robert Jaworski and Misamis Oriental Rep. Augusto Bucolio, that the ICC was supposed to submit to the Cabinet the MVIS contracts last Nov 28 but failed to do so.
"With this delay, we no longer expect the MVIS to be implemented in October 2003. It could be implemented only on Jan. 1, 2004, at the earliest," he said.
He said the Department of Trade and Industry has already accredited 32 companies to do the motor vehicle emission tests.
Jaworski, chairman of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, expressed dismay over the delay in the MVIS, saying this means the people would be inhaling not so clean air for a longer time.
He and Bucolio noted that 70 percent of air pollution comes from motor vehicles.
Jaworski said the joint oversight committee would have to press further so the Clean Air Act could be properly and promptly implemented.
The two solons also noted complaints that some of the imported coal is below standard.
"If what we are importing are virtually garbage and not the coal specified in the contract, then we might as well use our own coal," Bucolio said.
They were told that the National Power Corp. (Napocor) virtually monopolizes the importation of coal, worth $400 million a year.
"The only coal-fired power plant that does not buy from Napocor is Mirant," Bucolio said.
In the same hearing, Energy Undersecretary Jocot de Dios told the oversight committee that the Department of Energy (DOE) would be going in the field on Jan. 1, 2003 to monitor compliance with the benzene and aromatics content of unleaded gasoline in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
De Dios said the DOE has ordered portable testing units that would determine the components of gasoline coming in and being sold in outlets.
Bucolio, however, told the DOE not to be so hard on gasoline stations as retail outlets merely sell what they receive from the oil companies.
De Dios said the department wants the oil firms to make a firmer commitment on the retooling of their refineries to come out with cleaner unleaded gasoline.