Zambia Bans Haulage Trucks From Using The Victoria Falls Port Of Entry
Zimbabwe’s neighbor Zambia has reportedly banned haulage trucks from using the Victoria Falls border in order to preserve the Victoria Falls Bridge and not to disturb tourists, ZBC News reports.
The ban which will come into effect on 1 March 2021 will see trucks being diverted to Kazungula Bridge a move that might increase transportation cost for locals and reduce revenue collected by ZIMRA.
ZRA Corporate Communications Manager Topsy Sikalinda commented on the issue and said
We are doing this in order to preserve the bridge and apart from preserving the bridge we also want to bring sanity in the city of Livingstone which as you know is a tourism capital. We have a lot of trucks that make a lot of noise and bring disorder, so we certainly need to bring sanity.
The move has been discouraged by Zimbabwe as it will affect Zimbabwe in more ways than one. Mr Ozias Marange who at one point was the ZNCC Vice President said the government should engage Zambia on the issue:
By just that diversion it will be difficult and very expensive to transport goods and it is not something that we can take easily. Maybe our government needs to intervene and engage their counterpart. By just adding the 200kms and factoring in another country, Botswana, it’s going to be very costly
The government is yet to comment on the development.
More: ZBC News