Lorry firm’s permit suspended after fatal crash

PUTRAJAYA: The Transport Ministry has ordered an immediate two-week suspension of the permits of 28 vehicles of Syarikat Usaha Maju Trading Sdn Bhd, after one of its lorries was involved in a road accident that claimed five lives last Saturday.

Its minister, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, yesterday said the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) will issue the suspension notice to the company and the Road Transport Department (RTD) has been instructed to ensure all vehicles are at the depot during the period, Bernama reports.

The accident, between the trailer lorry and a car, occurred at 11.45am on Saturday near the Menora Tunnel in Perak on the North-South Expressway and the five occupants of the car burned to death.

Loke said at a press conference, the company faces the risk of having its operating licence suspended if a SPAD audit finds other offences.

“The stern action is being taken to drive home the message to transport companies that they will have to take the rap if they give little attention to safety,” Loke said.

The minister said he has also instructed the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) to conduct a study on the structure of the road along the alignment and look into alternative routes to prevent commercial vehicles from using the highway.

Nevertheless, he said, the use of federal roads as alternative roads will require a detailed study, including on the impact to congestion and safety, as these roads pass through village areas and Ipoh.

Loke added that RTD personnel will be stationed at the North-South Expressway on either side of the Menora Tunnel for two months to ensure that commercial vehicles adhere to the rules.

“The stationing of the RTD personnel there will be evaluated after the two months and it may be continued if the target of reducing accidents is achieved,” he said.

In KUALA KANGSAR, the trailer lorry driver was remanded for two days from yesterday over the investigation into the road accident.

Magistrate Noorhidayah Mohd Saad issued the remand order to facilitate the probe.

In the accident, the dead were three women above 60, a 37-year-old woman and a one-year-old boy. They were believed to have been travelling from Selangor to Taiping to attend a religious ceremony.

Meanwhile, in IPOH, Perak Public Utilities, Infrastructure, Agriculture and Plantation committee chairman Abdul Yunus Jamhari said the state government will work together with relevant agencies to look into improving the Kuala KangsarMenora Tunnel stretch, including construction of a new route.