Truckers protest overloading bylaw

PADANG, West Sumatra: Around 100 truck drivers and owners held a rally here on Friday to protest the implementation of Bylaw No. 1/2004, which regulates a fee for overloaded cargo vehicles.

They marched to the West Sumatra legislative council and conveyed their objection to the bylaw, which became effective on Friday.

The drivers parked some 60 trucks, many of them large ones, along Jl. Khatib Sulaiman, the main road leading to the council building, causing serious traffic jams.

Protest coordinator S. Budi Syukur said the drivers opposed the Rp 15,000 (US$1.60) charge per ton of overloaded cargo. -- JP