Truckers end 35-day strike

Truckers, represented by the Union syndicale des conducteurs de Centrafrique, have ended their 35-day strike in protest against police extortion along the road from the Central African Republic (CAR) capital, Bangui, to the port city of Douala in neighbouring Cameroon, according to Transport Minister Andry Kotazo. "You cannot pass a checkpoint without giving 30 to 40 litres of fuel," one truck driver told IRIN on Tuesday. The drivers resumed work on Monday after their union leaders met Prime Minister Martin Ziguele to discuss measures to stop the harassment. Announcing the end of the strike, which began on 17 February, Kotazo said on Tuesday on state-owned Radio Centrafrique that the government would "educate" the defence and security forces deployed along the route. He said union and Ministry of Transport officials would visit the truck park at Garoua Boulaye, 600 km northwest of Bangui, near the Cameroonian border, where scores of vehicles have been lying idle. Driver had parked their trucks at Garoua Boulaye to avoid the police racket at the many checkpoints along the road between the town and Bangui. Large numbers of fighters from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo are present along this highway. The fighters, belonging to Jean-Pierre Bemba's Mouvement de libération du Congo, have since October 2002 been backing CAR government troops in their drive to expel a local rebel army loyal to the former army chief of staff, Francois Bozize. The Bangui-Douala artery is a vital import-export route for CAR. Traffic along it has been interrupted since 25 October, when Bozize's forces launched their bid to oust CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse. The prevailing insecurity and drivers' strike have brought about shortages of basic commodities, and doubled prices.