Finnish transport entrepreneurs are threatening to inflict traffic chaos on highways during the upcoming Midsummer holiday weekend. The newspaper Turun Sanomat, text messages have been spreading among haulage companies urging truck drivers to drive slowly from noon Thursday. The aim is for heavy vehicles to drive at slow speeds on all highways leading out of Helsinki. The action is to be a protest against problems stemming from higher fuel costs. The SMS message calls on drivers to drive heavy vehicles at 20 kilometres an hour on major highways, including all arteries leaving Helsinki. The haulage companies are trying to pressure the state and their customers to take action to deal with the crisis stemming from sharp rises in fuel prices. Police Plan Action to Prevent Protest Helsinki Police commissioner Jussi Päivänsalo says officers will not sit by idly and watch the protest unfold. He said police will take action, for instance by directing trucks to the side of the road. Päivänsalo added that drivers could be fined. Finnish law forbids preventing the flow of traffic. "Certainly this action will lead to more aggression on the roads, as well as unnecessary passing and turns," Päivänsalo said. Meanwhile, the union Finnish Transport and Logistics (SKAL) said it hopes chaos on the roads over Midsummer can be prevented. The union, which is meeting with government and industry officials on Tuesday, said it hopes a solution can be found. The managing director of SKAL, Iiro Lehtonen, denies the organisation is behind the campaign to hinder Midsummer traffic. However Lehtonen said the protest is understandable. SKAL does not intend to prevent its members from joining the campaign. Village in Southeast Plans Protest Meanwhile, residents of the village of Jurvala in Luumäki in the southeast of Finland are planning a demonstration of their own on Thursday afternoon to protest the sharp increase in heavy traffic to and from the Russian border. The villagers plan to disrupt traffic on Highway 6 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, when the Midsummer weekend rush is expected to be at its peak. An estimated 11,000 vehicles go past the village every day. YLE
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