North Gorontalo Sub-regional Police Chief, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Dicky Irawan Kesuma, stated that the incident had caused traffic congestion reaching over three kilometers on both directions of the road.
Traffic congestion occurred, as only one lane of the road from and to Gorontalo was open.
"Otherwise, it is feared that many vehicles will meet with an accident due to the slippery and narrow road conditions," Kesuma noted.
It all started with a truck, loaded with rocks, breaking down in the middle of the road as a result of which other vehicles could hardly pass through.
Thereafter, a crude palm oil (CPO) tank truck headed from Paguyaman, Gorontalo District, to Bitung, North Sulawesi, suddenly appeared to cross the downward sloping road at the top of Pontolo.
The CPO tank driver attempted to pass through, but inopportunely, the rear of the tank hit the rock-laden truck, thereby leading to the tank opening up and spilling out about five thousand liters of palm oil.
Kesuma noted that his team had deployed personnel to manage the traffic flow at Pontolo, as the road had become slippery, thereby increasing the likelihood of accidents.
Some reckless motorists almost skid on the dangerous road, as more oil still continued to flow since the tank could not be repaired by the driver. Kesuma pointed out that it was also risky to move the 12-meter tank truck.
However, the truck loaded with rocks was successfully moved out from the site.
Kesuma then urged the drivers of the palm oil and stone trucks to immediately fix the problem on account of the high likelihood of traffic accidents.
Both need to be held accountable for the negligence, he affirmed.
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Translator: Susanti S, Kenzu T
Editor: Suharto
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