Saudi Arabia moves to clear backlog of trucks

Al Sila: Saudi authorities opened their borders fully for several hours overnight on Saturday, partially clearing a backlog of stranded truckers that snaked back nearly 40km into the UAE.

By last night, the line of trucks stretched 19km, still a significant wait for thousands of drivers seeking access to Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.

The Saudi government has imposed strict new rules for truckers entering the kingdom, requiring them to unload and reload their cargoes for inspection, verifying drivers' identities and fingerprinting them.

Since the beginning of June, the line had stretched back kilometres past Al Sila into the desert. The truckers faced days in the heat.

At Al Sila hospital, an official said around a dozen truckers were treated on Friday for stomach pains, heat stroke, exhaustion and dehydration. Five more were treated overnight.

For the past ten days, the trucks had been parked outside the Green Valley Grocery on Highway 11, 20km from the Saudi border post of Al Ghuwaifat. Yesterday afternoon, the road in front was clear.

Khalid Youssin, who works in a nearby garage, said there was a sudden movement of trucks at 4am.

Ikran Khan, a trucker hauling paint from Sharjah to Doha, was the last trucker to join the slowly shrinking line at 3.30pm. "It is a lot shorter than it was," he said. "I will still have to wait a day or two, so hopefully it won't be longer, inshallah."

An official at the UAE Federal Customs Authority told Gulf News Saudi traders and businessmen have started a campaign to urge the Saudi government to resolve the issue, as they have lost around a billion Saudi riyals (nearly Dh1 billion) in the two weeks since restrictions were introduced.

A meeting between UAE and Saudi officials will take place tomorrow in Riyadh.

The Red Crescent Authority (RCA) is stepping up humanitarian efforts to ease the suffering of stranded truckers, WAM reported.

Saleh Mohammad Al Mualla, RCA Secretary General, said a second team of volunteers is being assembled to help the truckers. Snacks, drinking water and food are already being distributed.

- With inputs from Abdulla Rasheed, Abu Dhabi Editor