NAMPORT OFFICIALS who attended the Botswana International Trade Fair last week in an effort to promote the modern port facilities, report excellent success.
Efforts are being made by Botswana government authorities to extend border control post hours to accommodate increased traffic, and industrialists in that country are satisfied that the harbour potential will work to their advantage.
Shipping time from Walvis Bay to Antwerp is 50% faster than through South African ports like Durban, says Philip Fischer, chief executive officer of Botswana's Lobatse 2000 Industrial Projects, an organisation established to promote industrial growth.
He estimates that as much as 50% of the container traffic which currently moves from Johannesburg to Durban can now be diverted to Walvis Bay on the under-utilised Trans-Kalahari Highway.
Here border hours can be extended as demand grows, says Botswana's director of road transport Moses Sebolai. Road blocks and other hold-ups have occurred, he says, but these are now being maintained only in the interests of safety and many of the problems experienced in the past have been eliminated.
The highway, opened two years ago, has been the source of considerable criticism from transporters citing border hour problems, numerous roadblocks and allegations of corruption among traffic officials.
The highway is currently utilised by an average of 160 cross-border vehicles daily, which is around 40% of the figure projected when it was opened.
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