Army tight-lipped about Russian trucks

The Walvis Bay office of global shipping giant NMT International Shipping offloaded 183 trucks on behalf of the Namibian Defence Force this week. According to NMT managing director Nieuwoudt Boshoff they received the Ural brand trucks on behalf of the Namibian Army in the port of Walvis Bay on Tuesday. When approached for more information about the trucks, the army’s public relations head, Lieutenant-Colonel Monica Sheya, said she returned to Namibia the day before and was unaware of the cargo. The permanent secretary for defence, Petrus Shivute, was tied up in a meeting and could not be reached for comment after numerous attempts. The consignment, consisting of brand new 2015-model recovery vehicles, refuelling trucks, mobile metal workshops and general haulers, were manufactured in Russia and arrived on board the Panama-registered Roro vessel Dong-A Metis from Russia. The 183 trucks were driven from the ship and stored at the Botswana Dry Port from where they will be handed over to the NDF. Boshoff welcomed the recent reopening of the transport corridor through Botswana to Zambia and Zimbabwe and commended the Walvis Bay Corridor Group for facilitating the move. “We are just waiting for the official notice. The system is in place again and in-transit permits are already available at the border posts. The closure of the Botswana passage two years ago resulted in cargo being moved via Dar Es Salaam and Mombasa and brought about a 30% drop in volume for Namibia. Hopefully cargo volumes will return and normalise,” commented Boshoff. OTIS FINCK WALVIS BAY