The Ministry of Public Works and Transport said yesterday that its officials had impounded 44 overloaded trucks along National Road No 217 since Friday.

Among the 44 trucks, 39 – which weighed between 4 and 34 tonnes – were fined. However just nine had so far agreed to pay, said Seng Chhoun, MPWT undersecretary of state and chief of the secretariat of the overload control committee.

In a press release, the MPWT said that, as of September 9, it would again be stopping trucks that exceeded the permitted weight or that had been modified to carry heavier loads.

Speaking at the Transport Technology Seminar yesterday, Minister Sun Chanthol said the move was prompted by the need “to protect road safety and roads, which always suffer damage from those trucks”.

The announcement was welcomed by Sem Phark, who lives along the road in Dangkor district.

“This road is frequently used by big trucks,” he said. “And some are very big, unlike normal ones [and] we’re scared of traffic jams and traffic accidents caused by those big trucks.”