JPJ, Forestry Dept agree to impose length limit of logs transported by timber trucks
Overloading and dangerous loading of logs is a common sight along Bakun Road.3
KUCHING: Timber logs may soon have to be cut to the length of the lorries carrying them to put a halt to dangerous loading.
This follows a meeting yesterday between the state Road Transport Department (JPJ) and the Forestry Department, which ended positively.
JPJ, which initiated the proposal, has always been under the spotlight whenever `lorry hantu’ (phantom lorries) caused havoc in Bakun and Murum.
State JPJ’s public relations officer Rogie Saui told The Borneo Post yesterday that there is a JPJ regulation that states that goods carried on any vehicle should not exceed the length of the vehicle carrying them.
“We (JPJ) have such a rule, but not the Forestry Department. We have asked the Forestry Department to help us look into it and they agreed to do so.
“The Forestry Department will look into creating a policy of cutting logs to the length of the lorries so that there will be no protrusion from the back of the vehicles (dangerous loading), which endangers other road users.”
To resolve the problem of overloading, dangerous loading and phantom lorries, he said JPJ also needed the cooperation of all relevant agencies and timber operators, notably in Bakun and Murum areas.
“There are quite a few timber companies there (Bakun and Murum). In order for the problem to be solved, we need these companies to work with us.”
There has been many complaints of late against phantom lorries and the callous attitude of its drivers.
These phantom lorries are damaging roads and putting road users at risk due to them carrying logs that far exceeded the length of the lorries and also in terms of weight.
Bakun Road was built to link Sungai Asap to Bintulu town, but ever since the road was built, phantom lorries had been terrorising road users with impunity.
Rogie said JPJ had intensified monitoring of Bakun Road since 2014. The department has four teams from Kuching, Miri, Bintulu and Sibu, comprising about 20 officers, to carry out enforcement operations there every day.
“The operation is not as simple as one imagine. When we suspect a lorry driver of overloading, we cannot just issue a summons instantly.
“We have to weigh the lorry first. For that to happen, we have to escort the suspected driver and the lorry to the nearest weighing station, and the nearest one in Bakun and Murum areas is at Skaloh, which is a three-hour journey.”
“Meanwhile, when one team escorts the lorry to Skaloh, another team will take over. We are trying our best with our limited manpower.”