THE Bacolod City Council approved on third and final reading an ordinance regulating the loading of sugarcane or other motor vehicles passing through the streets within the territorial jurisdiction of the city.
The ordinance was authored by Councilor Dindo Ramos, chairperson of committee on transportation.
Section 1 (a) of the ordinance stated that no truck, trailer or motor vehicle shall be allowed to pass through the city streets if the same is carrying sugarcane or other like commodity which exceeds more than one foot beyond the prescribed body frame of the truck or trailer, both on its upper and rear portion.
Section 1 (b) also stated that no truck, trailer or motor vehicle carrying sugarcane or other like commodity shall be allowed to pass through the city streets without cover on its rear portion of clothing, sack or fine nets.
The prescribed body frame shall not exceed 14 feet in height from the ground and not to exceed eight feet in width, the ordinance further stated.
Ramos said it has been observed that more than a thousand trucks or trailers loaded with sugarcane or other like commodities in a year are using the streets within the jurisdiction of Bacolod to transport their cargo to the different sugarcane milling stations in the province.
He added that most of the trucks or trailers are carrying sugarcane which exceed the prescribed limit of the steel body of the trucks and hence, are overloaded.
"It had caused the sugarcane to spill into the streets and had resulted to traffic hazards and obstructions," he added.
Violators of Section 1 (a) shall be fined of P1,000 or imprisonment for 10 days, or both at the discretion of the court with competent jurisdiction while violators of Section 1 (b) shall be fined of P500 or imprisonment of five days.
Ramos said all the traffic enforcers will undergo trainings and seminars for the implementation of the ordinance.