Abu Dhabi: The authorities are considering a proposal to impose a toll on heavy trucks plying on federal roads across the UAE, a senior official told Gulf News on Tuesday.
Dr Abdullah Salem Al Kathiri, General Director of the Federal Authority for Land and Marine Transportation, said there is no such proposal for private vehicles. The toll for trucks has been proposed as part of a primary study on the issue. The money generated from the toll could be utilised for road maintenance works caused by truck traffic, he said.
The official said that once this proposal is approved by the higher authorities, the toll will be applied to all trucks. The toll will be a small amount, incomparable to the road toll imposed by other countries.
The official did not specify the possible amount as the proposal is still under study. The roads which will come under the toll system and possible locations of toll gates for trucks are also not known at this stage.
Al Kathiri reiterated that there is no proposal to impose toll on private vehicles.
He said the UAE spends billions of dirhams each year on road construction, which is considered a national resource. Heavy trucks cause a lot of road maintenance works costing billions of dirhams. The toll is being considered only as a means to recover this expenditure, Al Kathiri stressed.
There have been a lot of discussions on a similar proposal on social media in the past few days. The official warned the public against falling prey to rumours on social media and requested them to trust only official statements issued by the UAE authorities.
— With additional inputs from Omnia Fahim, Trainee with Gulf News.
