Bahrain suffered losses of more than BD35 million ($92.8 million) last year due to King Fahad Causeway logjams at the Saudi border.

The amount is out of the BD100 million that all GCC countries put together have lost during the same time due to similar issues on the Saudi border, said Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Customs and Ports Joint Committee co-chairman Abdulhakim Shammery.

'A report prepared by the BCCI has revealed these disturbing statistics,' he told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News.

'The land borders at all the crossing points in the GCC are equally badly managed and the Bahrain-Saudi border is no exception.'

Shammery said that the loss has also been attributed to increased fuel costs for the extra fleets of trucks that had to be used to try and speed up the delivery processes.

This is in addition to the late delivery and pick up of shipments, the negative effects of delay in projects and damage caused to the causeway.

'Experts have reported that the causeway has been damaged in several places and needs urgent maintenance because of the trucks being parked there at all times,' he said.

Shammery said it has also recently come to light that experienced heavy truck drivers were not willing to work in the GCC any more due to the long waiting times.

'This region is losing out on these drivers and we have to depend on inexperienced ones,' he said.

An average transportation company, which could do with 10 trucks and 10 drivers, now has to employ 15 trucks and 15 drivers, adding to the overall costs, said Shammery.

'This can be avoided with proper management,' he said.

'For example, a 1,000km return journey from Bahrain to Kuwait now takes five days, as opposed to just more than a day earlier.'

Shammery had last week accused the causeway authority officials of 'indifference and complacency'.

He alleged that because of their callous attitude, incoming trucks from Saudi Arabia have had to wait more than 48 hours before they were allowed in and those from Bahrain had to wait for at least a day before they could make their way across.

The stranded trucks, most carrying food supplies, had caused short-term shortages in Bahrain's market, it was also claimed.

There were complaints from importers and exporters, as well as contractors waiting for cement and steel, who said they were without supplies, according to industry sources.

The crisis at the crossing started more than a year ago and has been continuing intermittently since then.-TradeArabia News Service