Coal trucks officially banned from using public roads in S. Kalimantan

The provincial administration of South Kalimantan has officially issued a regulation to ban trucks carrying coal and other minerals as well as plantation production from entering public roads, Kalimantan Post reported.

The ban was effective Thursday (July 23, 2009) but trucks carrying coal, other minerals and plantation production was given two weeks of adjustment period to fully comply with the new ruling.

?It means that in the two weeks period, trucks carrying coal, minerals and plantation production using public roads will only receive a warning,? South Kalimantan governor Rudy Ariffin said following the launch of the ban.

"However, if such trucks continued to use the public roads after the adjustment period, they would receive a penalty,? he said, adding that the local government did not have choice but to impose the ban in order to protect the public roads, the governor said.

He said that trucks especially those carrying coal from mining areas in many parts of the province had caused a serious damage on public roads. The trucks had also caused a long traffic clog and damaged the environment. (*)