A decision by the Yangon regional government to ban heavy trucks from the city’s streets during the day was blamed for a massive traffic jam on Strand Road in Kyimyindaing Township yesterday.
The jam on Thursday morning coincided with the introduction of the ban on heavy trucks, including container vehicles, using Yangon streets between 9am and 6pm.
The first day of the ban saw hundreds of container carriers and other big trucks parking on Strand Road near the Yangon River docks and two big markets and blocking thousands of buses and other vehicles.
Container truck drivers said heavy vehicles began parking in the area from about 2am and the traffic snarl was at its worst by 6am, when traffic police arrived at the scene and began clearing the jam.
It took about five hours before traffic was flowing smoothly again, witnesses said.
“The areas near the Fish Market and Thiri Mingalar Market are very busy with traffic at night, when some ports are closed. The ban has created a lot of inconvenience for us,” container truck driver U Pho Kyaw told Frontier.
Police Major Than Myint from the No. 6 Traffic Police Force said an emergency meeting was being sought with the Yangon Container Owners’ Association and officials from the Myanma Port Authority to discuss ways of preventing a recurrence.
