Road Transport Department utilises social media, sets up roadblocks to monitor heavy vehicles
A grossly overloaded lorry stopped by JPJ enforcement officers at a roadblock recently.
KUCHING: The State Road Transport Department (JPJ) has turned to the public through the social media for help in its stepped-up drive to rid our roads of overloaded lorries.
Its enforcement chief Albert Clement disclosed that under ‘Ops Lebih Muatan’ (Operation against Overloading,) which was launched at the beginning of this month JPJ enforcement officers had been assigned to watch out for overloaded lorries at major roads almost round the clock.
“Besides deploying our taskforce units, we are also getting tips from members of the public especially road users through WhatsApp and Facebook. The usage of these social media networks has greatly assisted us. And they have become our eyes and ears. So I would like to warn lorry operators not to overload their lorries or they could face stiff penalties,” Albert told The Borneo Post yesterday.
The focus of the operation was on overloaded lorries as they were the main culprits in damaging our public roads besides posing a danger to other road users.
“Since we started ‘Ops Lebih Muatan’, 47 cases of extremely overloaded cases have been recorded and most of them were charged in court,” he said, adding that those found guilty were liable to a fine between RM1,000 and RM10,000.
Among the roads being closely monitored by JPJ, he said, are the Pan Borneo highway, Bakun Road, Matadeng Road, Mukah Road, Semilajau Road and roads leading to Kuching City. He also said road complaints could be forwarded to [email protected].
Albert disclosed that JPJ and other enforcement agencies were told to buck up after Hulu Rajang MP Wilson Ugak Kumbong brought the issue of overloaded lorries in Parliament recently.
Meanwhile, Pan-Malaysia Lorries’ Association president Jong Foh Jit when contacted assured that members of his association had been advised to comply with the law.
“To my knowledge, most of those who do not comply with the law are not our members. In any case, the relevant authorities especially JPJ and traffic police must take stern action against those who flout the law,” he said.