Relief is at hand for long-distance truck drivers stuck in the cross-border queue south of Kasumbalesa on the Copperbelt border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Yesterday, following tireless efforts by the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) finally decided to reopen the borders of Mokambo and Sakania for truck traffic.
With almost immediate effect, trucks at the back of the queue, which reached about 70 kilometres into Zambia, started diverting to the alternative crossings.
One transporter, with about five trucks some five kilometres south of the heavily congested Kasumbalesa, said it didn’t make practical sense for drivers who had already been waiting in the queue for more than six days to turn around now.
As for his other trucks, “the rest of the fleet are now at Mokambo, busy in the queue and crossing this morning”, he said.
Pressure on Zambia to reopen borders such as Sakania, closed recently because of roadworks between Ndola and the DRC, will hopefully alleviate the humanitarian situation in which drivers have found themselves ever since trucks were turned away to Kasumbalesa.
According to Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of Fesarta, the general waiting time in the queue since northbound trucks were forced to use one border, stretched to eight days.
Last week it was reported how one desperate driver locked himself in his cabin while robbers prised open his tank to siphon fuel out at night – not a solitary incident.
Fitzmaurice agreed that Zambia’s decision to embark on roadworks south of Sakania came at a bad time for cross-border trucking, resulting in a major buildup of trucks south of Kasumbalesa.
However, he reiterated industry’s gratitude that Mokambo and Sakania can now also be used for loads going north towards the DRC’s copper mines.
Southbound empty loads can use the same borders, but loads heading into Zambia from the Congo still have to use Kasumbalesa.
“We hope to see the queue returning to normality. Fesarta will continue to monitor the situation and keep the pressure on ZRA should things not go according to plan,” Fitzmaurice said.
“We are committed to succeeding in our objective to clear the backlog at Kasumbalesa.”
At Mokambo it emerged this morning that there were hold-ups related to “official letters” allowing trucks to use the border.
It is hoped that this red-tape restriction will be sorted out soon to enable ongoing decongestion efforts.
