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Mozambique: Truckers wait three days at Machipanda border with Zimbabwe; demand faster customs clearance

By Notícias
MAPUTO: Long-distance freight carriers who use the Machipanda border are asking the authorities of both Mozambique and Zimbabwe to find ways to make customs clearance at the border more flexible, especially on the Zimbabwean side.
The operators report that, despite the border being open 24 hours a day, lack of flexibility sometimes means they wait up to three days, incurring additional costs.
They find it strange that, even when leaving Mozambique for Zimbabwe with an empty truck, they are forced to wait in line.
Truck driver Pedro Faifetin, who had been trying to cross the border for three days, said that the Mozambican authorities must urgently reach an understanding with Zimbabwe so that the border remains an attractive option.
Rogério Babane said that, “the main reason for the huge queues are the Zimbabweans who don’t care about the queue, which is always long to enter their country. Even with an empty truck, it makes it difficult to clear the border”.
Zimbabwean Felix Zondue, who had been at the border for a day, confirmed that “the process is slow in my country. I have been saying that solutions need to be found to the problem”.
However, in the last few days of last week, the queue of trucks fell from around ten kilometres to just under three, as a result of the work coordinated by the two countries.
Without wishing to record the interview, sources from Customs in Manica province reported that the movement of trucks had increased in recent days due, in part, to the focus shifting to the Beira corridor since the intensification of the demonstrations restricted crossings at Ressano Garcia in Maputo province.
The same sources acknowledged that the authorities now face the challenge of controlling the increasing pressure at Machipanda while seeking solutions to the long waits for truck drivers and minimizing the economic impact of congestion.
Machipanda connects Mozambique and Zimbabwe via the N6/Beira corridor, one of the main routes used for the flow of various goods from the Port of Beira to the hinterland. It is estimated that 400 trucks pass through Machipanda every day from Mozambique to Zimbabwe, Zambia, DR Congo and Botswana.