Business Section, August 2, 2007
Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere yesterday faulted the Motor Vehicle Inspectorate Department for failing to tame unscrupulous transporters from fitting their trailers with excessive axle load.
Mwakwere reminded the department that the Government spends Sh50 million to repair just one kilometer of worn out road.
He said the ministry has information that the trailers are being fitted with dummy axle loads that make them have a load capacity in excess of the recommended ones.
Mwakwere said the scenario has made Government’s projections of road infrastructure planning and maintenance be unpredictable.
The Department is under his docket and is charged with ensuring that the vehicles on Kenyan road meet the inspection specifications as per the laid down laws.
Consequently, the minister released new guidelines to govern trailers through a Traffic Amendment on axle load limits. The new Legal Notice NO.145 of June 28, 2007 will take effect on December 1, 2007 to supersede Legal Notice NO.112 of 1999.
The amendments have it that, the maximum number of axles which may be fitted on any vehicle or trailer combination will be seven provided that the vehicle axle configurations do not exceed three group axles. No vehicle with a rigid body shall have more than two axle groups, no vehicle with a rigid body have more than three axles except for a vehicle with two steering axles and that there shall be no vehicle or trailer with hydraulic, mechanical or pneumatic mechanism for lifting of one or more axles.
If a vehicle or trailer is nabbed using hydraulic, mechanical or pneumatic mechanism for lifting of one or more axles on the road, then such vehicle, trailer or both will be impounded and all the licenses withdrawn for a period of two years, Mwakwere warned. The amendments, he said, are aimed at harmonising Axle Load and Gross Vehicle Weight limits to correspond with Comesa standards.
Story by, MWANGI MUIRURI
Publicatiob date: August 2, 2007
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Mwakwere reminded the department that the Government spends Sh50 million to repair just one kilometer of worn out road.
He said the ministry has information that the trailers are being fitted with dummy axle loads that make them have a load capacity in excess of the recommended ones.
Mwakwere said the scenario has made Government’s projections of road infrastructure planning and maintenance be unpredictable.
The Department is under his docket and is charged with ensuring that the vehicles on Kenyan road meet the inspection specifications as per the laid down laws.
Consequently, the minister released new guidelines to govern trailers through a Traffic Amendment on axle load limits. The new Legal Notice NO.145 of June 28, 2007 will take effect on December 1, 2007 to supersede Legal Notice NO.112 of 1999.
The amendments have it that, the maximum number of axles which may be fitted on any vehicle or trailer combination will be seven provided that the vehicle axle configurations do not exceed three group axles. No vehicle with a rigid body shall have more than two axle groups, no vehicle with a rigid body have more than three axles except for a vehicle with two steering axles and that there shall be no vehicle or trailer with hydraulic, mechanical or pneumatic mechanism for lifting of one or more axles.
If a vehicle or trailer is nabbed using hydraulic, mechanical or pneumatic mechanism for lifting of one or more axles on the road, then such vehicle, trailer or both will be impounded and all the licenses withdrawn for a period of two years, Mwakwere warned. The amendments, he said, are aimed at harmonising Axle Load and Gross Vehicle Weight limits to correspond with Comesa standards.
Story by, MWANGI MUIRURI
Publicatiob date: August 2, 2007
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From The Daily Nation
COURT SETS ASIDE CARGO RULES:
The High Court yesterday stopped the implementation of rules a minister was announcing at a news conference.
Transport minister Chirau Mwakwere was announcing rules that would have forced transporters to reduce the amount of cargo they carry.
Lady Justice Roselyne Wendoh issued the temporary order halting the implementation of the rules following an application by 25 companies.
Mr Mwakwere was, at more or less the same time, announcing that lorries with more than 12 tyres at the rear would not be allowed on Kenyan roads beginning December 1.
The rules, which were published in the official Kenya Gazette on June 28, were meant to harmonise road carriage regulations in the Comesa region, said the Transport minister. The issue of axle load limits has been in the focus because of the damage to roads.
The application by the companies is challenging the legality of the rules contained in the June 28 legal notice.
Prescribed penalty
Under the rule, the Transport minister prescribed a penalty of impounding and withdrawal of licence of vehicles for a period of two years for non-compliance.
Through lawyer P.L.O. Lumumba, the companies said the rules also prohibited the use of trailers with hydraulic mechanism for lifting of one or more axles.
The rules, if enforced, they said, would render more than 5,000 vehicles and trailers owned by private companies useless, leading to loss of colossal sums of money.
According to the companies the implementation of the rules would also have a grave effect on the industry and its more than 50,000 employees. Among the companies are Multiple Hauliers (EA), P.N. Mashru, A.O. Bayusuf and Sons, Montrex, Anwar Ali and Brothers, Mohamed Ahmed Bayusuf and Sons, Silvester Parcel Services, Bash Hauliers and African Line Transport.
Dr Lumumba requested the court to determine the issue of the legality of the rules before December so that his clients would know whether they would still be in business.
After hearing Dr Lumumba’s submissions, the judge ordered the companies to file their main application and serve it on the Transport minister in the next 15 days.
Mr Mwakwere said the regulations would only allow lorries with three axles (12 tyres at the back) that carried a maximum of 48,000 kilogrammes of cargo to use roads.
Story by PATRICK NZIOKA and JILLO KADIDA
Publication Date: 8/2/2007
COURT SETS ASIDE CARGO RULES:
The High Court yesterday stopped the implementation of rules a minister was announcing at a news conference.
Transport minister Chirau Mwakwere was announcing rules that would have forced transporters to reduce the amount of cargo they carry.
Lady Justice Roselyne Wendoh issued the temporary order halting the implementation of the rules following an application by 25 companies.
Mr Mwakwere was, at more or less the same time, announcing that lorries with more than 12 tyres at the rear would not be allowed on Kenyan roads beginning December 1.
The rules, which were published in the official Kenya Gazette on June 28, were meant to harmonise road carriage regulations in the Comesa region, said the Transport minister. The issue of axle load limits has been in the focus because of the damage to roads.
The application by the companies is challenging the legality of the rules contained in the June 28 legal notice.
Prescribed penalty
Under the rule, the Transport minister prescribed a penalty of impounding and withdrawal of licence of vehicles for a period of two years for non-compliance.
Through lawyer P.L.O. Lumumba, the companies said the rules also prohibited the use of trailers with hydraulic mechanism for lifting of one or more axles.
The rules, if enforced, they said, would render more than 5,000 vehicles and trailers owned by private companies useless, leading to loss of colossal sums of money.
According to the companies the implementation of the rules would also have a grave effect on the industry and its more than 50,000 employees. Among the companies are Multiple Hauliers (EA), P.N. Mashru, A.O. Bayusuf and Sons, Montrex, Anwar Ali and Brothers, Mohamed Ahmed Bayusuf and Sons, Silvester Parcel Services, Bash Hauliers and African Line Transport.
Dr Lumumba requested the court to determine the issue of the legality of the rules before December so that his clients would know whether they would still be in business.
After hearing Dr Lumumba’s submissions, the judge ordered the companies to file their main application and serve it on the Transport minister in the next 15 days.
Mr Mwakwere said the regulations would only allow lorries with three axles (12 tyres at the back) that carried a maximum of 48,000 kilogrammes of cargo to use roads.
Story by PATRICK NZIOKA and JILLO KADIDA
Publication Date: 8/2/2007
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