Reduced import duty on vehicles ‘will turn Nigeria to dumping ground’

The Nigerian Environmental Society (NES), a non-governmental organisation, says the reduction in import duty of vehicles will turn the country into a dumping ground.

Dorothy Bassey, NES president, told NAN on Wednesday that the decrease will encourage the importation of used cars and environmentally unfriendly vehicles.

The 2020 finance act provides a downward review of the levy to be paid on imported cars from 35 percent to five percent.

The import duty of tractors has also been reduced from 35 percent to five percent; mass transit vehicles and motor vehicles for goods transport from 35 percent to 10 percent.

According to Bassey, new vehicles are better than fairly used ones, adding that electric cars are more efficient.

She explained that the rate of gas emission was comparatively lower in electric cars which makes them safe for the environment.

Bassey lamented that environmentally unfriendly cars would heighten climate change with heavy gas emission while unserviceable vehicles would litter the environment.

She decried the slow rate of technology acquisition and transfer in the real sector, adding that production processes could be made more eco-friendly by the use of sensors.

Bassey urged Nigerians to embrace energy saving devices to sustain the environment for posterity through the use of technology.