Highway Authority to enforce new fines for truck overloading

The Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) Monday announced that it would from January 1, 2014 enforce a new regime of allowable axle load limits and fines for overloading heavy duty trucks.

A statement issued by Mr Michael Abbey, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Highways Authority and copy sent to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra said the new regulation is in accordance with the Road Traffic Regulations 2012 (LI 2180).

The statement also reminded quarry operators, mining, warehouses and similar companies that manufacture or are engaged in the carriage of bulk goods that, under the new road traffic regulations, it is mandatory for such companies to procure and install weighbridges or other approved devices for weighing loaded vehicles leading to their premises.

It said the GHA had embarked on an exercise to verify compliance with the Act and best practices in relation to the axle load weighbridge.

The statement urged all to protect the huge investment made in constructing roads for development of the country.

“The alarming state of overloading on our roads vis-à-vis the weakness in the existing infrastructure for Axle Load Control and enforcement demands a pragmatic approach to set up systems which will ensure that the entire road network is under surveillance,” the statement said.

According to the GHA, the array of both international and local experiences, and recommendations made by experts engaged by our development partners had been explored and had greatly influenced the new strategy to deal decisively with the overloading problem.

“Specifically the experiences in South Africa and Tanzania, as well as in Germany and United Kingdom have been brought to bear on our Action Plans,” the statement added.

Source: GNA