Heavy penalties await overloaded trucks as EA Act comes into effect

NELLY MTEMA in Dodoma

THE East African Community (EAC) Vehicle Load Control Act, 2016, will come into effect in January 1, next year, with stiff penalties awaiting defiant transporters and weigh-in bridge personnel, government has revealed.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, Eng Joseph Nyamhanga, said the Act will come into use as President John Magufuli has assented to it. Opening a transport and works stakeholders meeting, to equip them with the details of the Act, Eng Nyamhanga said Tanzania will be the fifth East African Community country to make use of the Act, with Burundi becoming the only one left.

He said the Act is intended to ensure road infrastructure last long, with stiff penalties awaiting transporters who will fail to obey the agreed load capacity. He outlined the new control areas that will use Demerits Point System which will keep records of all transporters who frequently overload their vehicles.

These will in turn be suspended for a given period or banned from the business. Moreover, he said, overload charges have been hiked to 15,000 US dollars (35m/-) or a three-year jail term contrary to the present situation whereas such an offence carries 2,000 US dollars fine.

“The penalty will also include weighbridges personnel who collude with transporters and allow vehicles with overload to pass freely in the check points” said Mr Nyamhanga He said the Act has set dayvehicle detention fees at 50 US dollars, compared to the current 20 US dollars, while parking fees stand at 50 US dollars a day after the offenders pay the overloading fees.

Eng Nyamhanga said much as the on transit permit fees have been reduced from 20 US dollars to 10 US dollars, but there are new categories apart from the abnormal load that will need special permits. He named those new categories as awkward load, hazardous load, super load and unstable load, saying all these measures are intended to ensure roads are durable for a long time.

“As you can see, the Act bears stiff penalties for overloading; I call upon our transporters, to familiarise themselves with the Act and observe the rules and regulations,” he said.

He added that the government will see how best it can reward transporters with clean load records, so that they set an example to others. He cited one of the reasons the country’s roads wear within a short period as the use of axles with super single tyres to carry a load capacity which is supposed to be transported by vehicles with dual tyres.

Eng Nyamhanga directed The Tanzania Roads Agency (Tanroads) to conduct massive awareness campaign to all works and transport stakeholders, so that they get the details of the Act.

“Tanroads should complete all key preparations including Weighbridge Operation Manual and set up new computer systems, to match with the Act terms before January 1, 2019,” ordered Eng Nyamhanga.

Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan are already applying the Act which was announced in the EAC Gazette-Legal Notes in 18th November 2017 and endorsed alongside rules and regulations in 2017.