HCM City authorities will keep a close eye on large trucks entering the downtown area until the Lunar New Year in mid-February.

HCM City authorities will step up vigilance to keep large trucks off the downtown area until Tet. 

The Department of Transport has issued licences allowing 294 trucks to travel downtown during peak hours.

It has provided a further 100 licences for oil tankers and more than 1,240 vehicles serving public works including important constructions like the metro and anti-flooding projects.

“We have provided licences [in co-ordination] with the traffic police,” Vo Khanh Hung, deputy director of the department, told the Labourers newspaper.

“The registration numbers of the trucks, times and routes are written clearly on the licence, and the list is updated on the website and sent to relevant authorities every month.”

Traffic police officers and transport inspectors are responsible for identifying and punishing all violations.

“We are planning to increase patrolling to deal with large trucks entering downtown during peak hours and prohibited roads,” Tran Quoc Khanh, head of the department’s transport inspectors, said.

“The traffic police always keep an eye to prevent big trucks travelling at peak hours, especially in the downtown area, to ensure traffic flow,” Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Binh of the city Road and Railway Police Department said.

According to authorities, there were over 1,200 violations this year and total fines of over VNĐ1.5 billion (US$67,000) were collected. — VNS