Lorry drivers dig in for a long wait

Essam al Ghalib

• Last Updated: November 17. 2009 11:25PM UAE / November 17. 2009 7:25PM GMT

GHEWEIFAT // A 10km tailback at a border crossing into Saudi Arabia has left thousands of lorry drivers kicking their heels.

The drivers have been forced to lay up as thousands of Haj pilgrims from the UAE and Oman cross into the country, police said.

Yesterday, the line of stationary vehicles stretched into the distance on the Emirati side of the border crossing at Al Ghuwaifat.

Major Salem al Ameri, the director of the crossing, said the situation had worsened over the last few days as more pilgrims tried to get to Saudi Arabia for the Haj.

“We have many people from the UAE and Oman travelling for Haj, which has meant there is more traffic,” he said. This had led to delays for trucks trying to cross between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, he added.

Major al Ameri said he and his team were in constant contact with the Saudi authorities, who were working hard to clear the bottleneck. Despite the enormous logjam of vehicles, the situation was not as severe as it had been in June, he added. Then, a new fingerprinting system on the Saudi side of the border caused lorries to be backed up for more than 25km.

“The line has been moving a little slower over the past 24 hours,” said Amer Abdulfatah, a 34-year-old Jordanian lorry driver who was carrying chemicals to Saudi Arabia. “I spoke with some friends at the last Emirati truck staging area by phone, and they said that things on the Emirati side are running as usual. The delay, I think, is on the Saudi side, maybe some of the customs and immigration agents there have to inspect Hajis.”

Mr Abdulfatah said yesterday his lorry had been stuck at the head of the queue since Monday night. He said he had anticipated delays.

“While other drivers slept on the side of the road, I drove all night to get to this spot at six in the morning,” he said. “The drivers ahead of me managed to clear customs and made it through to the first staging area. They should be entering the staging area on the Saudi side by Wednesday afternoon. Had I slept I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Mr Abdulfatah said he had brought enough food and water for a five-day stay because he knew from experience there were no facilities at the crossing. He said on average it took three to five days for lorries to cross into Saudi Arabia.

Azem Ismael, 29, a Pakistani pilgrim born and raised in the UAE, left Ajman on a bus at 2pm yesterday afternoon and arrived inAl Ghuwaifat around 10pm last night.

“I feel sorry for those drivers, I don’t know how long it’s going to take them to cross the border.”

Jordanian-born Zayed Fares, 20, left Abu Dhabi at 3pm yesterday with his sister in another Haj group bus. “We arrived in Ghuwaifat at 7.30pm, but have not been able to be on our way because one of the people on the bus did not have permission from his sponsor to leave the UAE. We are all waiting for his paperwork to come through. Other people who arrived after us had their paperwork completed in less than an hour and were on their way. I think we will be on our way into Saudi Arabia very soon.”

Mr Fares said he and his fellow pilgrims had not experienced any delay in reaching the border.

Lorry drivers, however, had settled in to wait much longer. Ramzi Ayman, 49, an Egyptian taking a load of steel to Qatar was at the back of the 10km queue. He said although the tailback was slightly longer than he had expected it was not particularly unusual. “I will reach the border checkpoint probably within the next two days,” he said. “But on the Saudi side, no one can tell how long it will take. The Saudi border checkpoint at Al Batha is the worst checkpoint in all of the Middle East. Saudi officials close the border to lorries from 1pm to 7am. Saudi is the only country in the Arab world to do this. Then, when they open up in the morning, they work only until 1pm then stop letting trucks through until the next day.”

However a patrolman with the Ghuwaifat Police said the jam was worse than expected. “It’s slightly longer than usual,” he said. “Maybe it’s because of the Haj.”

Usman Abdulrasool, 47, a Sudani driver delivering cars to Saudi, said lorries had to pass through six staging areas, three on the Emirati side and three on the Saudi side. He said he expected it would take four or five days to get through.

“The line of lorries that you see is not because the Emiratis are delaying things, but because the Saudis are. The procedure for pilgrims is different. They have their own channels to go through and we have ours.”

ealghalib@thenational.ae

* With additional reporting from Zoi Constantine