Ambassador defends ex-Japanese cars

JAPANESE ambassador to Zimbabwe Yoshinobu Hiraishi has defended second-hand car imports from his country saying they were safe and reliable, rejecting reports that they had contributed to the country's worsening road carnage.

Hiraishi said Japan was proud of its vehicles, adding that they were a reputable brand and that was why the vehicles were being exported across the world.

The government in 2010 banned the importation of all ex-Japanese vehicles blaming them for the high number of accidents, but later reversed the ban.

Police in November last year also banned ex-Japanese people carriers such as Toyota Granvia, Noah, Elgrande and Ipsum from the public transport system blaming them for the high accident rate.

Former Environment and Natural Resources minister Francis Nhema caused a stir when he proposed a ban on the importation of used vehicles in order to "save lives and protect the environment".

However, Hiraishi told our sister paper Southern Eye in an interview on Wednesday that there was no evidence that ex-Japanese vehicles were sorely to blame for the road carnage.

"I do not think that it is true because Japanese vehicles are a brand across the world. Are the vehicles to blame for accidents in other countries? If there is evidence that they are causing accidents, then we can look into that and try to address the defects," said Hiraishi.

"Japanese vehicles are in demand across the world because they are reliable and safe. As a nation, we are very proud of these vehicles," he said on the sidelines of the official opening of Molo Primary School built by money donated by the embassy.

Used Japanese cars have become popular with Zimbabweans over the years as they are cheaper than those assembled locally. Previous attempts by the government to raise import duty on second-hand vehicles have been met with a lot of resistance.

The influx of imported second-hand vehicles, mostly from Japan and the United Kingdom, has also eased unemployment as a significant number of people buy and sell vehicle parts and accessories, while others have learnt the skills of mechanics and auto electronics.

The government has also immensely benefited from import duty which grossed $250 million from 206 519 vehicles purchased between January and November 2013, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency.