Swaziland weighbridge into operation

MBABANE – Swaziland’s first weighbridge will begin operations sometime in May and truck drivers with overloaded vehicles will be taken to court and fined. A truck scale has been procured to make operational a long-dormant weighbridge east of the Matsapha Industrial Estate. Minister of Transportation Nthuthuko Dlamini said that in cases where loads exceeded allowable truck capacities, Swaziland would follow procedures enforced in South Africa. The courts will determine the amounts of fines levied against violators. For years road freight hauliers have had a free hand in transporting whatever load weights they please in Swaziland. This has led to an accelerated deterioration of the highway infrastructure. Damage is particularly noticeable on the main national highway from the Oshoek border post to the Matsapha industrial estate, whose slow lanes used by truckers now afford all users the experience of driving on corrugated iron. “The weighbridge will minimise the number of trucks that overload when travelling on our roads,” said minister Dlamini. He said truck overloading had greatly reduced the anticipated lifespan of the country’s highways, and addressing the problem would result in less government spending on highway maintenance. Dlamini said trucks ferrying goods into and out of the Matsapha Industrial Estate and those that entered and left by way of the Oshoek border post would be the primary “customers” required to use the facility.