US embassy cable - 04AMMAN10012

UNCLAS AMMAN 010012 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, ELTN, EPET, JO 
SUBJECT: TRUCKERS' DISRUPTION HAVING MINIMAL IMPACT ON 
TRANSPORT OF AQABA PORT GOODS 
 
REF: AMMAN 9945 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
1.  (SBU)  Jordanian officials say the Aqaba port is running 
smoothly, despite a 18-day-old truckers' work disruption 
capturing local newspaper headlines.  According to Aqaba 
Special Economic Zone Authority Commissioner of Revenue and 
Customs Shadi Majali, about 1,000 to 1,500 truckers are 
targeting only the Aqaba Container Terminal, now under 
management of private A.P. Moller Terminals.  Jordan has a 
mixed trucking fleet of over 12,000 vehicles, including some 
companies with 100-300 vehicles and numerous independent 
drivers.  Most trucks in the fleet can and do haul 
containers;  regulations controlling container trucks are not 
enforced.  The truckers' attempt to stop container trucks on 
the main Desert Highway have been thwarted by a special 
government order:  containers continue to be loaded on trucks 
given special dispensation to travel the Dead Sea highway. 
By all appearances, just about all containers are making it 
out of Aqaba Port.  Majali said that over the last five work 
days, the container port has successfully uploaded each day 
450, 419, 545, 414, 354, and 361 container trucks, working 
back from Saturday through Tuesday, respectively.  He said 
the average was only slightly below that before the truckers' 
disruption. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Other parts of the port -- loading trucks with 
commodities, cement, livestock or oil -- are "going along 
fine," said Majali.  "Anything not with the container port 
has nothing to do with it," he emphasized, and all such 
trucks were getting through.  Traders were not complaining, 
he added.  Majali said he believed some quarters were 
"blowing the whole thing out of proportion."  He said he 
believed that the truckers' action was "breaking up." 
According to a QIZ owner who joined a group meeting with 
Prime Minister Faisal Fayez December 18, the PM appeared to 
favor their arguments not to compromise on the exemption of 
QIZ deliveries from the truck queue system, whereby any 
trucker of any quality is assigned a load when the queue 
ticket comes up. (COMMENT:  This does not mean the truckers' 
demand for a modified queue system might not be met, only 
that the QIZs are not likely to be a part of any final 
arrangement.  The queue system is scheduled to be replaced 
with an open-market system in September, 2005.  END COMMENT.) 
HALE