Siem Reap Province

POLICE in Siem Reap province have begun halting overloaded trucks and removing “illegal” attachments sometimes used by owners to pack more goods into truck beds, officials said Sunday.

The move is part of an effort to comply with an order given by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who in a speech on December 28 called for tougher enforcement of laws and orders against overloaded vehicles. The speech was given to inaugurate stretches of National Roads 5 and 6.

Enforcement of the order was set to go into effect on February 1, but officials pushed it back by about a week, saying they had not had enough time to educate drivers about the new rules.

Officials have not identified a specific weight limit for trucks, saying instead that individual police officers would be tasked with determining which ones were overloaded and could potentially damage roads.

Sok Sunlin, director of the provincial Public Works and Transport Department, said nine “heavy” trucks had been stopped in the past week by police, who then removed some portions of the truck beds.

He added that many of the trucks transporting cement, metals and construction equipment belonged to wealthy people with government connections, and that officials routinely call him to intervene on behalf of owners whose vehicles had been stopped.

“Now, I always cut my phone off after ordering my police to cut illegal parts,” he said.