Malaba crossing reopens
Jun 21, 2006
THE Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) with Police deployment has re-opened the Malaba border crossing allowing carrier vehicles to pass after a day of closure that saw over 400 trucks stranded.
By Peter Kaujju and Nathan Etengu
THE Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) with Police deployment has re-opened the Malaba border crossing allowing carrier vehicles to pass after a day of closure that saw over 400 trucks stranded.
The border was closed following a row between URA and Malaba Town Council authorities over control of the parking yard for carrier vehicles.
“We opened the border at 7:00am to start clearance of the carrier trucks and business is on as usual. We had to bring in the Police to ensure safety of the goods since the town council authorities had threatened violence. Multiplex is back and collecting the parking fees,†said Stephen Magera, URA’s Malaba supervisor.
URA contracted Multiplex in February 2006 to collect the fees on their behalf, but the town council had taken over collection of the parking fees, saying the area was in their jurisdiction.
The Malaba Town Council authorities had earlier refused to honour the High Court order issued on June 16 instructing them to vacate the parking yard and stop collecting the parking fees until July 4 when the main application is to be heard.
Yasin Kasibante, Malaba’s RDC, said priorities dictated that they open the gate.
“We decided to open the gate and allow traffic to flow because the priority is security and revenue collection. Multiplex will continue to collect the controversial fee as we await what comes out of court since the town council has applied to court to nullify the court injunction,†Kasibante said.
THE Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) with Police deployment has re-opened the Malaba border crossing allowing carrier vehicles to pass after a day of closure that saw over 400 trucks stranded.
The border was closed following a row between URA and Malaba Town Council authorities over control of the parking yard for carrier vehicles.
“We opened the border at 7:00am to start clearance of the carrier trucks and business is on as usual. We had to bring in the Police to ensure safety of the goods since the town council authorities had threatened violence. Multiplex is back and collecting the parking fees,†said Stephen Magera, URA’s Malaba supervisor.
URA contracted Multiplex in February 2006 to collect the fees on their behalf, but the town council had taken over collection of the parking fees, saying the area was in their jurisdiction.
The Malaba Town Council authorities had earlier refused to honour the High Court order issued on June 16 instructing them to vacate the parking yard and stop collecting the parking fees until July 4 when the main application is to be heard.
Yasin Kasibante, Malaba’s RDC, said priorities dictated that they open the gate.
“We decided to open the gate and allow traffic to flow because the priority is security and revenue collection. Multiplex will continue to collect the controversial fee as we await what comes out of court since the town council has applied to court to nullify the court injunction,†Kasibante said.