The theft of fuel from a truck at the Kazungula transit across the Zambezi River has highlighted the need for improved overnight facilities in the Zambian border hamlet.
For the time being, transporters spending the night in Kazungula are not allowed inside the customs control zone of the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP).
Instead, they are forced to make use of a ‘facility’ designated by the local council.
For the ‘comfort’ of using the Council Truck Park (CTP), long-distance hauliers appear to get none of the amenities usually afforded an overnighting customer.
According to Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations, the CTP is not fenced in, hence the incident of fuel stolen from a truck.
Moreover, the CTP doesn’t even have bathroom facilities for drivers spending the night.
What the truck park has managed to achieve since the modern multimodal bridge across the Zambezi came into use, replacing the old river ferry system, is to stand in stark contrast to the OSBP efficiencies that accompany the bridge.
Although it’s not clear what transporters are expected to pay for parking inside the CTP, Fitzmaurice said it’s a disgrace that the money made from this hasn’t yet been used to improve the park’s facilities.
“Even if it’s $5 per truck and they manage to squeeze in 200 trucks a night, that’s $2 000 (R36 000 +/-) each time. You want to tell me they haven’t been able to improve things for the drivers?
“It’s inhumane and transporters are forced to pay for it.”
