ZIMBABWE IS is busy blaming Zambia for worsening delays at the Chirundu border post, where trucks are having to wait for at least five days. The Zimbabwe customs department says that its neighbour has moved its border post to within a few metres of the bridge connecting the two countries and that there is no room for trucks to park.
According to the Zimbabweans there was parking for 100 vehicles at the old customs post, but now there is only space for two at a time. This allegation has produced hoots of derision from Zimbabwean companies. They say that the root of the problem is the extremely slow clearing process by officials on both sides, officially to stamp out smuggling but unofficially to get more money for both cash-strapped governments. Parking room has nothing to do with it, or very little, said a Harare international haulier. The time taken by the authorities is the real cause. So serious has the situation become that Zimbabwe's customs department is relaxing the five-day rule for removals in transit for traffic coming into the country through Chirundu. Adding to the truckers' woes are increasing cases of banditry in Zambia, where robbers wait on the side of the road in the Zambesi escarpment for trucks labouring up the hills. They leap onto the trailers from the surroundings, cut tarpaulins and throw off as much as they can. Maize is the favourite target.
By Martin Rushmere
