Trucks queued up for kilometres at Merdare administrative crossing

MERDARE - Freight trucks continue to queue up for kilometres at the Merdare administrative crossing, where the provisional Pristina authorities have recently allowed entry of ready-made products from central Serbia to the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija.

At a customs terminal set up by Pristina, trucks are undergoing detailed checks that take more than two hours, resulting in queues in which truck drivers have to wait for hours, or even days, to enter Serbia's southern province.

The almost 3 km queue includes transiting trucks, which are not subject to checks at the terminal, a Tanjug correspondent reported.

Embittered drivers said they had not received any official explanation for the long wait times and that their employers were even considering having the goods shipped back.

On October 7, Pristina decided to allow entry to ready-made products from central Serbia exclusively at the Merdare crossing until the delivery of scanners it said it had ordered for all administrative crossings.

It also said more stringent checks would be in place at Merdare until then.