Abu Dhabi: About 2,000 truck drivers have been stuck at the UAE-Saudi Arabia border at Al Ghuwaifat near Al Sila town due to alleged slow customs clearance by Saudi authorities, truck drivers told Gulf News late Saturday.
They said truckers have been suffering due to lack of adequate toilets inside the border check points since last Sunday.
Video: Trucks stranded at border
Meanwhile Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler's Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of the UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA), instructed RCA officials to immediately send food and water to truck drivers stranded at the Al Ghuwaifat checkpoint on the UAE and Saudi border.
“The number of trucks in queue was more on Thursday. There was a 10 kilometre queue of trucks on the Al Sila-Al Ghuwaifat road when I reached here at 8 pm on Thursday”, said Saidu, an Indian truck driver who is still waiting in the parking area inside the border checkpoints.
Video: UAE truckers speak of frustrations
He said the queue on the road was reduced to the parking area inside the border by Saturday because a small number of trucks reached the border over weekends. “More trucks will be reaching the border by Sunday evening after getting the clearance from Dubai Chamber of Commerce after the weekend”, Saidu said.
Usually Saidu would spend a day at the border but this time it may take up to four days and he'll be lucky if he crosses the border by Monday evening.
Biju, another Indian truck driver said the problem began last Sunday. “We don’t know the exact reason. The procedure at the UAE border is as usual but it has been slow at the Saudi border for past week”, he said.
UAE-Saudi authorities were not available for comment.
With inputs from WAM
