Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday he would force government officials to resign from their positions if they could not crack down on overloaded trucks, reiterating his concern for the rise in deadly traffic accidents.

Speaking to about 100 government officials during an annual meeting of the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, Hun Sen appealed to police, military police and court officials to take action against transportation companies who violate the traffic law.

“I’m very concerned about trucks loading containers. It seems that accidents would happen easily and the issues repeated again and again. Therefore, you must be cautious, and you who don’t work on this have to resign from your position,” Hun Sen said.

“The Ministry of Commerce needs to shut down some transportation companies that continue to violate the law.”

Hun Sen also appealed to provincial governors to stop illegal road checkpoints and ensure that roads are repaired and maintained.

He said NGOs, police and bodyguards were involved in illegal logging and transporting goods with military vehicles.

“Everyone must be under the law. The military police and police have to arrest those people for me,” Hun Sen said.

Tram Iv Tek, Minister of Public Works and Transportation, said in his annual report that there were 8,000 traffic accidents resulting in 1,800 deaths in 2010.

He noted that his numbers did not include data from Preah Kossamak and Russian hospitals.

“[The government] has a goal to achieve a reduction in traffic accidents by 50 percent by 2010,” he said in his speech.