Three weeks of congestion at Saudi Al-Batha and Al-Ghuwaifat border posts with the United Arab Emirates was now over, Abdullah Al-Kharboush, Saudi Customs Department spokesman, said in a statement on Monday. He said the bottleneck, delaying thousands of trucks, had been caused by a fingerprinting system introduced by the Kingdom. “The situation of trucks on the Saudi-UAE border has now gone back to normal,” the statement said. On average, 1,800 trucks a day cross the border between the two Arab countries, up from 1,250 trucks in 2008, the statement said. Al-Kharboush said Saleh Al-Khelaiwi, Director General of Saudi Customs and Muhammad Al-Mehairi, Director General of the UAE Federal Customs Authority, at a meeting in Riyadh discussed the issue at length. During the meeting, it was clarified that a new computerized system has been implemented at Al-Batha customs post for taking the fingerprints of truck drivers. This contributed in the unusual crowding of trucks. On Sunday 2,000 trucks were cleared for entry into the Kingdom while the trucks crossing from the Kingdom to the UAE reached an average of 1,700 bringing the total both ways to 3,500 trucks per day. Al-Kharboush said several developmental projects are under way at Al-Batha border post including expansion of the customs courtyards for clearing imports and separation of the transit courtyards from others.
