Client service charter will speed transit on TKC

An historic agreement brokered by the Trans Kalahari Corridor Secretariat (TKCS) will see the private and public sectors working together to speed up transit times and improve service levels along all 1 900 kilometres between Walvis Bay and Johannesburg. The client service charter – believed to be the first for a transport corridor in Africa – will be launched in the first quarter of 2011, according to Bevan Simataa, executive director of the TKCS. The charter, to be ratified by operators and agencies from Namibia and Botswana, will be extended to include the South African leg of the corridor once the pilot has been successfully completed. All Namibian and Botswana agencies serving the route have agreed on a set of minimum service standards, he says. This includes customs, immigration, transport (including weighbridge operators), cross-border agencies responsible for levying charges, as well as those that issue permits, the port, and the police services. Transporters, freight forwarders, clearing agents and others in the logistics chain serving the route have also agreed to sign the charter, he says. A “roadmap” has been drawn up for its implementation. The final draft document is being circulated, and the charter will be completed once the comments have been incorporated. It will then be printed and distributed to all signatories and posted on the website. Booklets and brochures will also be produced and made available at key points along the route. “We will make the standards accessible to those who need them,” he says. Simataa says improved and common service standards will help attract more traffic to the corridor by accelerating the passage of freight through harmonised service standards. “One of the early breakthroughs is a common customs form,” he says. Truck stops, which are expected to be built along the route, will also be expected to sign the charter, but the TKCS is encouraging all businesses along the corridor to get involved. A spin-off would be an increase in tourist traffic, and the secretariat is already talking to tourism authorities from all three countries.