A LARGE number of colourful double-decker buses imported from Hong Kong have been standing idle at the Durban state warehouse ever since being impounded by the department of Customs & Excise in July this year.
A total of nearly 100 of the smart-looking second-hand buses were ordered by Cape Town's Golden Arrow bus service, but after the arrival of the first shipment local manufacturers laid a complaint with the Department of Trade and Industry that their importation was illegal in terms of the Import and Export Control Act.
As a result, and until a decision by the department has been made to either release them or send them back, this expensive but impressive shipment has been parked forlornly in the yard outside an already overcrowded state warehouse on Durban's Pier 1, drawing only curious looks from passers-by.
