WINDHOEK: Works and Transport Minister John Mutorwa has said it is unfair that only truck drivers are penalised for overloading, despite the involvement of other players in the loading of the mass vehicles.
During his motivation for the Vehicle Mass Bill in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Mutorwa said four role players are involved in the loading of the vehicle, but it is the driver that is charged in cases of overloading.
“It needs to be stressed here that four role players are essentially and practically involved in the overloading of a motor vehicle, which are the consignor, the operator, the driver, and the consignee,” the minister said.
He explained that the situation on the ground however differs.
“Of these role players only the driver is marked as the doer, who must take criminal action, while the other role players, in the real sense, carry more guilt in respect of overloading. Drivers are given the truck; the load is there; you don’t even know sometimes what you’re carrying. But then, when you come to the weighbridge, you are the one who is punished for overloading. And I think all of us will agree that it is unfair,” Mutorwa stated.
The Vehicle Mass Bill seeks to hold the whole transport logistic chain – the consignor, consignee, operator, and driver – legally liable for overload offences.
The Bill further seeks to decriminalise overloading as an administrative offence.
“Overload offences are, by their nature, administrative offences and should be so indicated in an Act of Parliament and adjudicated in accordance with the principles of administrative law and not criminal law,” Mutorwa said.
The expectation is that if the process could be removed from the court system and dealt with administratively, the success rate of dealing with overload offences would increase.
“It also needs to be pointed out that the courts are overstretched and overstrained, but the overload offences do not carry the same blameworthiness and element of moral indignation as the criminal offences,” the minister said.
Opposition leader McHenry Venaani expressed his support for the Vehicle Mass Bill, which he said intends to minimise excessive damage to the national roads.
However, Venaani called on Minister Mutorwa to consider the registration fees of mass vehicles at the Roads Authority, saying the current system is disadvantageous mostly to farmers.
He said it is unfair that farmers who mostly drive their trucks on gravel roads pay the same amount as commercial operators.
“Seventy per cent of farmers across the country no longer register their trucks. We are forced to drive our trucks at night,” he said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency