Federation welcomes standardization of road tax fees
KOTA KINABALU: Standardizing the road tax fees for registered commercial goods vehicles in Sabah and Sarawak will ensure a level playing field for operators in Sabah, said Federation of Sabah Lorry Transportation Associations president Steven Chua.
Nonetheless, he hoped the government would also consider increasing the maximum gross vehicle weight (BDM) for lorries in Sabah, which has been maintained at 38 tonnes, given that the weight limit in Peninsular Malaysia has been raised to a maximum of 54 tonnes.
Chua yesterday welcomed Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook's announcement that the road tax fees for registered commercial goods vehicles in Sabah and Sarawak would be standardized using the kerb weight (BTM) criteria starting April 1.
At present, the criteria used for calculating road tax fee for commercial goods vehicles in Sabah was based on BDM while in Sarawak it is based on the BTM, which makes the road tax fee in Sabah higher.
He thanked the Minister of Health and People's Wellbeing Datuk Stephen Wong Tien Fatt for arranging a meeting between the federation and Loke several months ago in order to highlight the challenges faced by lorry transportation operators in Sabah.
He said the federation had conveyed its grievances to former ministers of transport of the previous government in the past but to no avail.
“YB Anthony Loke was the sixth Minister of Transport we have met with over the years and he is the only one who delivered good news to us.”
Chua said there used to be three road tax fee systems in the country, with Sarawak being the cheapest.
By standardizing the road tax fees in Sabah and Sarawak, it will allow local operators to compete fairly with their counterparts, he said.
“We could save 50 per cent on road tax fees.”
He said there might be a slight revision in logistics charges with the decrease in road tax fees.
On another note, Chua said Wong was also assisting the federation in arranging a meeting with the Public Works Department (PWD) and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal pertaining to raising the maximum permissible BDM for lorries and trailers in Sabah.
He said the maximum BDM for Sabah was 38 tonnes while that of Peninsular Malaysia has been increased to 54 tonnes.
Asked if the lower BDM was due to poor quality of road in Sabah that could not cope with massive weight, Chua pointed out that the BDM for international containers were the same.
“Trailers in Sabah carry over 100,000 containers each year but we do not see roads or bridges collapse under the weight.”
Besides, he said the quality of road construction in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia was the same.
Chua further said once our roads were open to Indonesian lorries and trailers under the Malaysia Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) initiative, Sabah operators would lose their competitiveness should their BDM remain at 38 tonnes.
“Increasing the maximum permissible BDM is important for the development of this sector.
“I do not see any reason not to increase the BDM in Sabah.”