Cross-border transporters are waiting for specifics from authorities in Kinshasa about planned penalties that could further erode the bottom line of long-suffering trucking companies plying their trade on the line into the Congo’s copper mines and back.
According to a source working in Haut Katanga province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is thinking of implementing a route deviation fine that could penalise hauliers carrying GPS-sealed cargo with three times the value of their loads.
The source, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said: “It means a truck cannot deviate from its route in the DRC, whether passing through the border at Kasumbalesa or returning from the mines around Kolwezi and Lubumbashi.”
If it is implemented, some transporters could face fines of hundreds of thousands of US dollars.
Asked why trucks carrying electronically sealed loads would deviate from the RN1/39 to Kolwezi and back, the source said: “Transporters often have their own depots where they refuel, and it’s off the main route.
“In other words, they may soon be disallowed from refuelling where they want to.”
Another planned DRC measure to control cargo operators serving the copper mines route, involves the possible implementation of various fines as part of standard operating procedure at Tenke truck park between Kolwezi and Lubumbashi.
The stiffest fine of $500 will be for the consumption of alcohol in Tenke. It would also result in being banned from the park. It’s not sure whether the banning would be against trucks and/or their employers.
Additional fines range from $100 to $200 for smoking, littering, cooking in non-designated areas and “causing trouble”.
Said a transporter trucking freight into Haut Katanga: “It’s all about the DRC treating trucks like ATMs.”
