The transport lawyer appointed by the Isle of Man's government to introduce operator licensing has defended the time it is taking to draft the legislation.
Murray Oliver says he is "working incredibly hard" to produce the new rules, which are expected to be rolled out from September 2011, and will be based on the UK system.
Oliver was responding to unrest among hauliers that they have heard nothing about the O-licensing system and how it will be policed since February ('Isle
of Man operators in dark over licensing plan', CM 18 June).
Oliver says that public meetings are being scheduled for the end of July to present the regulations and to explain how they will work.
He insists: "We have been considering how it will be policed very carefully. I am working incredibly hard to get this absolutely right. It is at the final drafting stage. The final details will take into account the large number of representations at the number of subsequent meetings we have had to get it absolutely right."
But Manx haulier and chairman of the Island Road Transport Association, Jon Bennet, maintains he has concerns about how far behind the times the island is when it comes to haulage legislation, weights in particular. He says: "Modern trucks are designed for higher weights, and we on the island all run newish trucks, so we
have to
run around under-loaded.
"Surely this is an environmental issue? This is the message we want to get over to them, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. We don't even know who the guy is who is in charge of weights legislation, or even if there is one."
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