Double Standards : Lorrymen 25 September, 2008

DAILY EXPRESS NEWS
Kota Kinabalu: The Federation of Sabah Lorry Transportation Associations is calling on Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman to help resolve the BDM (gross vehicle weight) mismatch between lorries operating in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.
Its President, Steven Chua Pui Ming, said this is important because the problem, which has been lingering since five years ago, is slowly killing off one by one those involved in the business.
He said about 20 per cent of their members are already out of the business as they can no longer withstand the impact, while another 30 to 40 per cent may soon meet a similar fate.
Chua said they had asked Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Infrastructure Minister Datuk Raymond Tan to assist them but it appeared like "he (Tan) is hopeless in this matter."
"We have asked Raymond to pursue or do something about this but nothing until now. He (Tan) even closed his door on our West Coast Lorry Transportation Association which had thrice tried to approach him but to no avail.
"So we are now placing our hope on the Chief Minister to help us," he told a press conference Wednesday.
It was held by the federation to voice their dissatisfaction on the dialogue they had with representatives from the Federal and State Public Works Department (PWD), Road Transport Department (RTD) Sabah, Transport Ministry and the police at the State RTD Headquarters in Bundusan near here earlier in the day.
The problem arose after the government gazetted the Weight Restriction Order in 2003 and downgraded the BDM of lorries (double axle trailer) in Sabah and Sarawak to 34,000kg from 36,000kg, while the BDM of lorries in the penin-sular was upgraded to 40,000kg for no apparent reason.
The Federation had objected to the differential in BDM and appealed to the Prime Minister, Transport Minister and various government departments to make it similar with the one for the peninsula.
Calling it a double standard, Chua reasoned that this is because everything from the amount of road tax up to the penalty and summons amounts are the same in East Malaysia and the peninsula.
Citing an example he said their members are sometimes taken action against by the enforcement authority for carrying loads exceeding the permissible BDM which would not be the case if in the peninsula.
"Why can't we have the same BDM when we are living in one nation and everything else is the sameÉwe heard the BDM in the peninsula, which is now already upgraded again to 44,000kg, would be upgraded again by another 20 per cent soon, while we still have the same old problem," he said.
Chua said their members were also not happy that there is a Sarawak-based transportation com-pany which operates a fleet of lorries registered in Sabah which had been given "special privilege" by the government to carry loads beyond the BDM fixed for the State, just because it involves a government project.
"Why this double standard? This company's lorries are travelling the same roads as we are but its lorries are allowed to carry up to 55,000kg because it is a 'special case' and this special case happens to be a government project.
"Some of us also involved in government projects are not given such special treatment," said Chua.
Wednesday's dialogue followed a directive from Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat in response to the request made by the Federation during his visit here recently.
Chua, however, said the dialogue was a failure, as there was no positive result. He said PWD officials responded to the upgrade of BDM by saying they have to form a committee, in which they asked the federation members to participate, to do a study on the existing bridges throughout Sabah to decide whether these bridges require strengthening.
"We do not concur with the PWD as the issue of BDM has been outstanding since 2003. It has been five years already and all the others such as the Transport Ministry and other relevant authorities have already agreed that the upgrading of BDM in Sabah is necessary."
Chua said it is also important to solve the problem fast with the imminent BIMP-EAGA free growth area where it would become a problem or a great shame in terms of transportation of goods because Indonesia, Brunei and Philippines have higher BDMs for lorries.
"Just think what will happen to those lorries carrying goods or products way above the permissible BDM in Sabah and Sarawak when they come into the State you cannot stop them because it would be a free trade area, while we in Sabah can only bring out to these countries good loads according to the same low BDM," he said.
Sabah and Sarawak are probably the only places having the lowest BDM in the world, he said, questioning if the delay or refusal to upgrade the present BDM show the Federal and State roads in both states are of not up-to-mark in terms of quality.
Sabah West Coast Lorry Transport Association Chairman, Steven Foo, and other committee members were also present.