Conflicting reports about lenient and practical efficiency on the one hand and time-consuming coronavirus testing procedures on the other hand have reached Freight News about the situation at Chirundu.
A notorious choke-point for road hauliers crossing the Zambezi between Zimbabwe and Zambia, the border post has become synonymous with congestion, corruption, and often brutal criminality.
North of the river there are indications that the Zambian Revenue Authority (ZRA) is working hard to ease blockages at the border, a view shared by Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta).
Earlier this morning a member of Transist, a Fesarta transit assistance initiative which aims to improve over-border systems and services, said there had been a remarkable improvement in the flow of traffic at Chirundu.
This was because of new systems allowing those with Zambian documents to bypass the queue, he said.
Although only implemented this morning, the initiative has had an immediate effect on trucks waiting north of the border to proceed south.
Fitzmaurice said this idea had been proposed some time ago and it was reassuring to see it finally implemented.
However, word from a transporter is that the truck parks at Chirundu are full so trucks can’t be pulled from the queue.
“I’ve still got trucks that are 7km from the border. Others have been there for three days and they are still about 3.5km from the border.”
In another development it has emerged that the ZRA has embarked on full Covid-19 testing of drivers, not just screening.
Transist has heard that there’s a ZRA circular doing the rounds, although official confirmation was unavailable at the time of going to press.
Full testing means drivers will have to wait for their results, further adding to delays experienced at the border.