Container depot shut-down intensifies Zimbabwe's congestion crisis

Severe congestion and delays caused by intensified customs checks in Zimbabwe have been compounded by the temporary shut down of one of Harare's container receiving depots. Bak Storage closed for business for the week following food riots that hit Harare and spread to other towns. No comment could be obtained from Bak, with the phone being answered by a security guard.
Shippers say this is putting further pressure on deliveries, with goods piling up around the country. Manica, which owns the other container depot in Harare, is operating normally but a source in the company said that problems were being caused by importers failing to clear cargoes Ñ largely as a result of the riots.
Before the closure of Bak, the situation was already appalling, according to Sandy Walsh, c.e of the Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe. The depot operated by the National Railways of Zimbabwe has been closed, which has meant that the handling capacity has dropped by one third. We have congestion at the airport and container depots and the effect on rail is totally unacceptable, says Walsh.
She says that the industry fully supports the need to check smuggling but we feel that the implementation of Operation Bhadhari (the customs department's name for the crackdown) has caused more delays .
By Martin Rushmere