Lorry owner Kaljit Singh (second from right) together with the 17 other lorry owners who had their vehicles seized by the Road Transport Department recently.
KUALA LUMPUR: A group of lorry owners are urging the Transport Ministry to intervene as they claimed the Road Transport Department (JPJ) was about to forfeit the ownership of their vehicles.
The 18 owners had their lorries seized by the JPJ in December last year for overloading during operations in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
One of the owners K.R. Shanmagaraja, 42, said his Nissan lorry was seized on Dec 20 by JPJ for being overloaded with stones.
"I was subsequently charged on Jan 13, under Section 57 (1)(a) and (b) of the Land Public Transport Act and was issued a fine of RM25,000 which I settled and went to the JPJ Selangor Headquarters to retrieve my lorry.
"It was then that I had been told that further action was being taken under Section 80(3) of the Land Public Transport Act to forfeit my ownership of the vehicle," he said, adding that his lorry has been detained for over five months now.
He said he was paying RM4,000 in monthly instalments on the truck but was now not able to settle his debts as it was not operating.
Meanwhile, Kaljit Singh, 36, said his Nissan truck was also seized by the JPJ on the same day for the same offence.
"I was also charged under the same act and paid an RM25,500 fine but the truck was not released.
"Now I am unable to bring in income for my family and take care of my wife who is suffering from cancer," he said urging the JPJ to reconsider taking action against them.
When met outside the Sentul police headquarters on Thursday (May 4), P. Thanaseelan who acted as a spokesperson for the 18 owners said that such action from the JPJ was negatively affecting these operators.
"These 18 operators have paid fines of between RM25,000 and RM30,000 already and they are not even disputing the fact that they committed the offence.
"How are these men going to support their families now? They have already paid hefty fines and now they might even lose ownership of their vehicles. How is this fair?" he asked.
Thanaseelan urged Transport Minister Anthony Loke to look into this matter and help these lorry owners.
