Linden to clamp down on heavy-duty trucks using bridges, roadways

The administration of the Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) Democratic Council (RDC) has again decided to clamp down on defaulting timber and lumber trucks utilizing the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge and internal roads in the Linden community.
The administration is particularly concerned about trucks which are not operating under standard regulation when using the roads and bridges, an issue recently highlighted by several members of the Council. With Linden being a major link to interior locations, scores of these trucks pass through the community on a daily basis.
Councillor Douglas Gittens has registered particular concerns about overweight timber trucks utilising the bridge.
“Some of these guys have not been weighing or saying to us how much lumber they’re carrying. There’re big trees that are just tied with small chains that come across that bridge… Some of these trucks do not have a Road Service licence. How are they fit to travel on the highways?” Gittens stressed.
Regional Chairman Renis Morian said these trucks should not be driving through populated areas of the community, but instead should utilise designated roads. He stressed that a system has never been given to the RDC as it relates to the rules concerning these trucks and the use of roads. The Regional Chairman said he has sent letters to the Guyana Forestry Commission and the Natural Resources Ministry seeking information on the regulations for these trucks, and is presently awaiting a response.
In the meantime, he said, the administration will be putting its own system in place at the bridge, in collaboration with Police and security personnel.
“If next week comes and we don’t get a response, we’re going to go with the rules we know would save lives,” Morian declared. “This is what I’m saying on behalf of the residents of Region 10,” Morian declared.
Normally, during peak hours in the morning, the trucks would be allowed to pass, but residents have been asking that they be made to park just where the scale is until the peak hours (end), and then they’ll be allowed to pass.
This system mandating that the trucks must not be on the road within certain hours commenced, and was also changed, under the previous administration, Morian said. He added that he wants this to be a standard procedure while the administration awaits a response.
He also shared his concern that some trucks do not carry cones which are utilized in the case of a breakdown, despite this being a legal requirement. Morian noted that the administration will seek to enforce this in collaboration with the Police.
“If within three weeks these matters aren’t solved, I’m going to move with Council, we will go on the road and we will stop the trucks…and divert them where they’re supposed to go,” the Regional Chairman said.
Councillor Gordon Callender also pointed out that some truck drivers are not tying red cloth on their lumber as a signal to warn oncoming traffic, while Councillor Charles Sampson pointed out that, in some cases, overweight trucks are allowed to cross the bridge. He said the section of the bridge on the Wismar side appears to be sinking as a result.
“One of these days, if we don’t control the weight on that bridge, the whole bridge will collapse, or it will go further down,” Sampson said, as he stressed that the diversion road needs to be properly surfaced at Block 22. In this regard, the Regional Chairman said letters were sent to relevant authorities for works to be done. (Utamu Belle)