Turning a blind eye
Re: "5% of checked CNG buses have failed inspection: DLT", (BP, Oct 19).
Is the Department of Land Transport (DLT) corrupt in inspecting compressed natural gas (CNG) buses for non-compliant CNG installations?
On Oct 1, 20 young students and three teachers burned to death in an inferno that made headlines worldwide. Preliminary findings showed that the bus relied on illegally installed CNG tanks -- just like every single other bus in that company's fleet. That strongly points to DLT corruption, yet the police are not investigating possible DLT corruption.
Of the 1,331 CNG-fuelled buses that the DLT has checked in the past 14 days, the most common problem found was expired gas cylinders and equipment; there's no mention of illegal installations. How plausible is it that all illegally installed tanks were in the one company whose bus burned?
We have 13,400 CNG-powered buses on the roads; at the current rate, it'll take DLT 140 work days, or 6.41 months, to complete all checks, which will be enough for crooks to fix what's illegal.
Technical schools and universities should form flying squads, each with one DLT inspector as supervisor, to check all CNG buses nationwide for non-compliant CNG and safety equipment, including tanks and emergency doors. All inspections must be concluded within Nov 30.
Working with the technical teams, the police should investigate the DLT for systematic corruption.
Let our children and teachers not be burned to death in vain.
