An alternative stretch of dirt track used by transporters serving the SADC on the south-bound empty leg to alleviate a notoriously congested crossing between the DRC and Zambia has become a major concern, a haulier has told FTW Online.
Known as the Mokambo road, it runs north along the two countries’ jagged-edge border which carve the mineral-rich copper belt area into two.
Officially, the DRC Customs complex at Kasumbalesa, about 90 kilometres west of Mokambo, is the ideal crossing that over-border cargo carriers heading home should use – in an ideal world.
It’s equipped with state-of-the-art software that often doesn’t work because of connectivity issues
And it has newly upgraded checkpoint facilities which transporters say only serve to milk truckers forced to wait because of administrative hold-ups.
Add corruption and crime into the mix and it’s little wonder that the Mokambo road has become a preferred option over Kasumbulesa.
The condition of that road though has always been a problem and, with the rainy season ahead, is most likely going to get worse.
"Mokambo road is the biggest issue we have,” the source said.
“Empty trucks from the DRC are using it to alleviate congestion but the road is in pieces and trucks are getting stuck. It's barely passable now.”
With acid and fuel supplies in the DRC depleted and demand expected to spike, the liquid bulk transporter said the hurdles hauliers had to face on the north-south SADC line remained unresolved.
“After all the tolls we pay the DRC you would think they would build a road,” he said. – Eugene Goddard
