The Island has no pass or fail criteria in place for vehicle emissions, according to Donal Smith, the owner of Bermuda Emissions Control — the company that tests emissions as part of checks for the Transport Control Department.

“I’m not trying to beat up on the Government,” Mr Smith said, after his address at the Paris conference on climate control.

He said the Island had scored high marks for having compulsory testing of vehicles, which had contributed to better air quality. However, he said BEC was not in a position to fail a vehicle for the quality of its exhaust.

“BEC adhered to our contract, which required us after 18 months to submit data to the Government. The Progressive Labour Party government did not introduce the cut points for emissions and this Government has not taken it up.

“I trust that the minister [of transport], Shawn Crockwell, has got this in his sights, and that since he is a man for getting things done, I don’t think it will be much longer before they are implemented.”

Mr Smith said he had been invited to speak at the conference by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre.

“They were impressed with what we had to show them about emissions, and said that to their knowledge, we as an Island have taken the lead,” the former deputy mayor of Hamilton added. “The Minister of the Environment for Morocco, which hosts next year’s conference, invited me to attend.”

Mr Smith said he had extolled Bermuda as “a blue chip destination” for international business.

“These companies come to Bermuda because the air is pristine, and we have to keep it like that,” he said. “We know that breathing exhaust emissions is bad for health. Some would argue the wind blows it offshore, but on days when nothing’s happening, when you’re on a crowded street with buildings up both sides, it’s not nice.”