Kyrgyz truckers protest ban on heavy trucks

BISHKEK – Several hundred Kyrgyz truckers June 19 resumed their protest of a May 10 government restriction on trucks weighing more than 30 tonnes, Fergana News reported.

The truckers, who blocked the Bishkek-Osh highway June 18, dispersed after presidential adviser Viktor Chernomoretz promised to convey their grievances to President Almazbek Atambayev.

However, they returned to the highway June 19 after no government action followed Chernomoretz’s assurances, trucker Sagynbek Kozhonazarov told Fergana News.

The truckers, who June 19 parked their vehicles on the roadside near Uzgen village, rather than blocking the highway as they did a day earlier, took out loans to buy their vehicles and need to use them, Kozhonazarov said.

The restrictions, which took effect May 10, were meant to improve road safety, the government said earlier.