“The borders have officially opened because when the two presidents of the two sovereign states came together and confirmed to their public that the borders are officially opened, then obviously the borders are officially opened,” said Commissioner Mareng Chuor said.
Chuor discloses that despite the small hindrance and delay of the passengers movement between the two countries, still there are daily increments of buses and trucks that are carrying goods from Sudan to South Sudan which he says is a sign of better beginning for the common objective for both countries to economically coexist.
He additionally confirmed that there have been some smugglers who used to illegally come into the South Sudan’s bordering states from Sudan to sell their goods but following the recent re-opening of the movement of goods between the two countries, drivers started complaining that the taxes are becoming higher than during the previous illegal movement of goods.
“The taxes are becoming double now compared to when we used to illegally bring goods to South Sudan. Now, it is very complicated to handle because of lots of offices are demanding payment especially within South Sudan territory at Majok-yinh thiou and Warawar checks,” said Babikir Abdurahman Adam, one of the drivers doing business between two countries.
“We ended up paying 14, 000 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) for only two trucks worth only 30,000 SSP including the capital. These sometimes one may work for loss rather than for profit,” he said.
Abdurahman appeals for the higher authority intervention to calm the situation so that their business flows without complications.
While SRA commissioner partially agrees the availability of many tax collectors at the border but refer them to as ‘officials of different taxing agents’ and adds the system is underway for improvement.
“Though there had been slow turnout of goods coming to South Sudan during the border movement suspension by the two counties, there were few vehicles coming in from Sudan to South Sudan especially Northern Bahr el Ghazal state in order to sell their goods, however, these people were doing this business on their own risk,” said Chuor.
Chuor claims that their customs and road blocks systems for the new nation are yet to be organized but pledges his commission’s commitment to strengthen and empower the taxation system in collaboration with other custom duty departments.
“This is a new country and everything is still under restructuring mechanism, my commission is working closely with custom to ensure that new joint offices are erected in strategic borders points to strategize and empower our system,” he said.
Source :oyetimes.com
