300 trucks roll out of Nakonde
ABOUT 300 trucks yesterday left Nakonde after the mandatory screening and disinfection process that has been going on in the border town since the weekend.
ABOUT 300 trucks yesterday left Nakonde after the mandatory screening and disinfection process that has been going on in the border town since the weekend.
In an effort to ensure that truck drivers transporting essential goods do not get into contact with other persons, police are escorting them from Nakonde to Kapiri Mposhi and beyond.
Yesterday, about 300 trucks crossed into Zambia from Tanzania.
The truckers are first screened and their vehicles disinfected before being given police escort out of the border town, which is a hotspot for Covid-19.
Muchinga Province Commissioner of Police, Joel Njase, explained in an interview that officers would ensure that the drivers do not park anyhow nor come into close contact with other persons along the way. Mr Njase said that the Zambia Police Service was working with the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to escort the truckers from Nakonde to Kapiri Mposhi.
“Our officers as well as RTSA officers escort these truckers up to Kapiri where our counterparts from Central Province take over and escort them further until they reach their destinations,” he said.
Mr Njase, however, indicated that there was need to have more escort vehicles to ensure that all the trucks only parked at designated parking slots and that the parking was concentrated on serious business. He said that the need for more vehicles as well as manpower would help to decongest traffic of the trucks at the border waiting to depart.
“It will be difficult for us and may fail to let the traffic flow if we do not have enough vehicles to escort for example a 100 trucks per trip. Already today (Monday) we had about 300 trucks that have crossed from Tanzania and Congo that are being escorted,” Mr Njase said.
He said that despite the tight security escort, police allowed truckers be a bit more relaxed so as not to make them feel stigmatised.
Mr Njase said that some truckers were complaining that they were treated like they were sick, a situation he said was not supposed to be taken in that manner.
“We are however happy with the compliance levels of the people in Nakonde. We have not recorded any case of a Zambian national trying to defy the lockdown. It seems everyone is appreciating the work that is being done to ensure our town is safe again and we are happy,” Mr Njase said.