KUALA LUMPUR – Authorities believe the accident that claimed seven lives and injured 33 others in December last year was caused by tyre failure on a lorry that was overloaded with cement cargo.
Melaka Road Transport Department (JPJ) director Muhammad Firdaus Shariff said the offence could result in the lorry’s operator, which owns the Foton-brand vehicle, being brought before the Alor Gajah Magistrate’s Court on March 4.
“Our investigation found that one of the main reasons for the tyre failure was that the vehicle was carrying 31 per cent or 16,260 kilogrammes (16.2 tonnes) more than the permitted limit of OPC cement powder,” he said, as quoted by a local news portal.
“We will charge the company under Section 57(1)(b)(vi) of the Land Public Transport Act 2010, and the vehicle may also be forfeited under Section 80(4) of the same Act,” he said.
He made the remarks after leading the Chinese New Year Special Ops on Overloaded Vehicles along the Alor Gajah-Melaka Tengah-Jasin (AMJ) Highway near Peringgit last night.
Following the accident, the Transport Ministry pledged stringent measures against those responsible for the fatal crash at KM 204 of the North-South Expressway (PLUS) northbound in Melaka.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that initial investigations revealed the accident was caused by a dislodged tyre from a trailer lorry.
On January 2, police and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) were tasked with conducting further investigations into the trailer involved in the accident, as it was a new vehicle.
Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom) CEO Mahmood Razak Bahman said that a missing tyre from the trailer had prevented a complete assessment of the accident’s cause.
The trailer was manufactured in 2023, had passed a Puspakom inspection in March last year, and was registered in April the same year.
Meanwhile, Puspakom has come under scrutiny following allegations of bribery, prompting the government to introduce new vehicle inspection service providers.
On February 7, Loke announced that three new companies had been appointed to operate Motor Vehicle Inspection Centres (PPKM) under the first phase of a new initiative.
The appointed companies are Wawasan Bintang Sdn Bhd, which will operate in Port Klang, Selangor, Gua Musang in Kelantan, and Mersing in Johor; Pakatan Petroleum Sdn Bhd, covering Rawang in Selangor and Temerloh in Pahang; and Beriman Gold Sdn Bhd, which will oversee operations in Kuching and Serian, Sarawak.
This decision follows a Cabinet meeting on March 17, 2023, which approved opening up mandatory vehicle inspections under the Road Transport Act 1987 to other qualified companies.
Loke stressed that all newly appointed companies have two years to establish the necessary infrastructure, including premises, inspection equipment, and regulatory approvals.
JPJ will continuously monitor the development to ensure compliance with operational and safety standards, he said.
Existing Puspakom branches will remain operational, but the company will now face competition as the government aims to provide motorists with more choices and improve service quality.
The move comes as the government prepares to end Puspakom’s monopoly on vehicle inspections, with its current concession expiring on August 31, 2024. – February 10, 2025