Some 300 owners and drivers staged a demonstration along Jalan Seri Negeri, Ayer Keroh in Malacca today to voice their dissatisfaction with the Land Public Transport Commission’s (Spad) enforcement activities which they claimed were affecting their income.

The assembly, which lasted some four hours from 8am, also caused a massive traffic snarl in the area as more than 50 tipper trucks were parked on the road shoulder on either side of the road in the vicinity of Seri Negeri, which houses the offices of the state administration.

The participants’ spokesperson,  Ko Bing Liyong, said they wanted Spad to review its regulations on permitted tonnage for the trucks.

“Under (Spad’s) new regulations, even if a tipper truck is overloaded by one or two kilogrammes, the driver is detained and his permit suspended. On top of this, he also faces court action where he can be fined from RM1,000 to RM50,000,” he told reporters at the scene.

He added that they never faced such problems when they were subjected to Road Transport Department regulations whereby the drivers only faced action if the loads exceeded 30 percent of the permitted tonnage.

Meanwhile, state Transport, Information, Unity and Consumer Affairs chairperson Ghazale Mohamad said he would be arranging a meeting between the stakeholders and Spad and other related enforcement agencies to discuss the matter.

- Bernama