Gov’t Moves to Clamp Down on Overweight Vehicles

Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Works, Joseph Hibbert, has said that fixed scale sites and roving teams will be utilized to clamp down on the use of overweight vehicles to transport goods along the road network.
The move is in keeping with recent legislation to protect the physical state of the main roadways and the large investment in establishing and maintaining the roads.
Making his contribution to the 2008/09 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (June 11), Mr. Hibbert said that a number of roads are being damaged by overweight trucks.
He informed that designs are advanced for two fixed sites, namely at Rosend in St. Mary, which will be funded by Northern Jamaica Development Programme (NJDP) in Segment III; and at Harbour View in St. Andrew, to be funded from Capital A. He said that four load-sensor scales are to be purchased through the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC) and grant funds.
The State Minister appealed “to the owners and operators of the units now traveling overweight, to ensure that the loads they transport are within the legal limits, to avoid the prosecution that will be inevitable when they are caught.”
On another matter, Minister Hibbert said that the Ministry was able to enter into agreements with organizations and individuals for the cleaning of a number of gullies.
He noted that the works, which included the disposal of material, were done at “a greatly reduced cost to the government.”
The State Minister also commended the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), which removed a significant amount of material from the Chalky River at no cost to the Ministry. “This significantly reduced the bed load and the costs of the cleaning to be done by my Ministry,” he stated.