A meeting of key border agencies: customs, roads department, weighbridge operators, police, environment and the Trans-Kalahari Corridor (TKC) Secretariat, in collaboration with the Office of the High Commissioner of Botswana to Namibia, was held in the border village of Charles Hill late last month, the Walvis Bay Corridor Group said in a statement.

The meeting discussed key issues affecting cross border movement of trade, passengers and transport, among them weighbridge discrepancies at Mamuno and Pioneer Gate border posts; One Stop Border Post, widening of the border gate at Mamuno border to facilitate abnormal loads, and the collection of revenue on overload penalties and admission of guilt charges.
Since March this year a full time Programme Coordinator has been in place for the Trans-Kalahari Corridor to drive the process on the development of the corridor.
This came as a result of a MoU that was signed between Botswana, Namibia and South Africa in 2003 and focused on the establishment of a Trans-Kalahari Corridor Management Committee (TKCMC). The TKCMC drives the developmental process of the Trans-Kalahari Corridor which links the Port of Walvis Bay with Botswana and the Gauteng Region in South Africa.
Various issues were identified during the past few years as barriers to the development of the TKC and now the Program Coordinator has the full task to facilitate this process between the three TKC countries. Priority areas, which require immediate attention and actions, have been identified and the meeting at the border was then set up to ensure a “hands on approach” to the elimination of these barriers in the shortest possible time.
“It is therefore for this reason that the authorities of Botswana and Namibia has met at the border between Botswana and Namibia to discuss the issues on hand and get a better understanding of it on ground level as well as to agree and do the forward planning,” the statement said.
The statement said the meeting agreed to construct a computerised weighbridge at Pioneer Gate, a 24 hour solution to the collection of penalty fees at the border, the widening of the Mamuno border post’s entrance to handle abnormal cargo loads and the long-term establishment of a One Stop Border Post.