Edghill warns of prosecution, clamping of overweight trucks

– as weigh-in-motion scales roll out countrywide

As the Guyana Government moves to impose weight restrictions for trucks on the country’s roadways, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has warned that trucks found to be over the weight limit of 15 tonnes per axle will be clamped and impounded, while the owners/operators will also face prosecution.

Over the last two days, the Public Works Ministry, along with stakeholders including the Guyana Police Force (GPF), has been conducting test runs as it introduces the weigh-in-motion scales on major roadways across the country. During a demonstration exercise of the weigh-in-motion scale on Thursday afternoon, subject Minister Juan Edghill revealed that teams will be dispatched on major roadways, including the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, Heroes Highway, the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge, and the East Coast Demerara (ECD) corridor, among others, to monitor the weight of trucks.

“We have started testing and setting up for the enforcement of 15 tonnes per axle on our roadways… I would like to inform the nation that mobile teams will be dispatched on various roadways. In the next couple of days, every trucker and every transportation provider – whether it’s sand, loam, aggregate, cement, steel, or whatever the merchandise or materials that you are using – we will be testing and enforcing the weight limit,” the Minister advised.
Earlier this month, the Cabinet approved a series of new rules for trucks on roads and bridges nationwide, with those over the 15-tonne per axle limit being banned, as part of efforts to curb damages to infrastructure by heavy-duty vehicles and to protect Guyana’s road network as well as improve transportation safety. According to Edghill on Thursday, there would be consequences for trucks that do not abide by the weight restrictions.
“We cannot, as a country, continue to build infrastructure, roads and bridges, and shortly after, have them damaged because of the indiscriminate use and carrying of excessive loads by trucks and activated vehicles. Once you are caught carrying more than 15 tonnes per axle, you will remain parked right where we catch you until you remove the weight, and then you will be prosecuted by the police as well. So, we are giving everybody notice. If persons believe that this is a joke, we will clamp the trucks, we will impound the trucks, and we will use every available mechanism under the regulations and the laws to enforce it,” the Minister stressed.

In preparation for the enforcement of the 15-tonne per axle weight limit and the introduction of the weigh-in-motion scale, the Public Works Ministry has procured some 1000 truck clamps that will be issued to the Police Force for those vehicles that violate the limit. With actual enforcement set to begin this weekend, the Public Works Minister is putting sand pit owners, loam pit owners, quarry operators, service providers, and truck owners and drivers on notice that there will be no tolerance for breaches of the weight limit. As such, he encouraged stakeholders to adhere to the weight restrictions.
“These are the weigh-in-motion scales that will test both the front and the back axles.  You will get a printout, and it will show you exactly what the tonnage is, and we’ll be able to know if it is more than what is allowed and what is carried.  We would expect in the next 48 hours as we roll this out, everybody will bring themselves in order, and after those 48 hours of grace and you getting a chance to see what is going on, we will have to start doing extreme compliance,” Edghill declared.
At a press conference two weeks ago, the Public Works Minister had explained that letting overweight trucks keep driving would seriously damage the roads, and fines would not be enough to cover the repairs. He pointed out that the cost of the damage is much greater than the fines.
In April of this year, Edghill made it clear that heavy-laden trucks are not permitted to traverse along the railway embankment on the ECD to alleviate damage to the thoroughfare. This was after more than six Acrow-panel bridges underwent significant rehabilitation works but were subsequently destroyed by overladen trucks.