Monday, May 12, 2008 Transport groups complain vs 'uncovered' quarry trucks By Ian Ocampo Flora
PORAC -- Commuters and motorists traveling along the Guagua-Porac and Angeles-Porac roads have been complaining against quarry trucks that ferry sand materials without the necessary canvas cover.
Some jeepney operators and drivers say while local government units (LGUs) concentrate on increasing their collections on quarry tax, they seem to be ignoring the safety aspect of transporting sand along the roads.
Sand being transported along the road should have necessary cover to prevent the quarry materials from falling onto the pavement and other road users.
Falling sand, gravel, and related materials from speeding trucks are considered as dangerous to other motorists.
For its part, the Biyayang Luluguran at Sisikapan (Balas), the special committee in charge of quarry operations in the province, it is the Land Transportation Office (LTO) that has jurisdiction over the matter.
The LTO in the City San Fernando has confirmed that there is an existing circular on the need for sand-filled quarry trucks to use canvass cover. However, when this correspondent asked for a copy of the circular and the latest list of trucks apprehended for violating the rule, the LTO said the documents were "not readily available."
Many residents here are also blaming quarry trucks for the fast deterioration of roads as well as other offenses like indiscriminate double parking along the side of roads, over speeding, overloading, and truck-related accidents.
Local government regulations are not strict regarding the use of roads by quarry trucks in terms of parking, load capacity, body size and the like.
