Manama: Plans to set up a one-stop border crossing post to eliminate traffic congestion at the Bahrain-Saudi border on King Fahd Causeway have been postponed, a Saudi official has said.
Sulaiman Al Yahya, the director general of passports, said delays in the negotiations and in carrying out tests were the reasons for the deference of the implementation of the one-stop plan initially scheduled for March.
He said that a new plan to help ease the long queues at the crossing included filling in a form ahead of the travel in order to limit the procedures on the causeway to quick checks. More checkpoints will also be opened, Al Yahya was quoted by Saudi daily Al Riyadh as saying on Thursday.
Under the one-stop concept, drivers will go through only one post embracing the routine border procedures that include passport control, car clearance and customs.
Currently, drivers have to go through Bahraini and Saudi formalities, which often results in heavy congestion and long queues of cars.
“The one-stop concept will contribute to easing pressure on travellers and will help them save time,” Ahmad Al Luhaidan, the spokesperson for Passports, said in early March.
Drivers coming from Saudi Arabia into Bahrain will go through a Saudi post without the need for any formalities from the Bahraini authorities while those driving out of Bahrain will have their travel documents processed in Bahrain without the need to go through Saudi formalities.
In November, an official said the new one-stop border crossing concept would be applied only to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens.
Holders of non-GCC passport holders will have to go through the two-stop border crossing procedures, he said.
The concept calls for dedicating some of the existing lanes at the frontiers to GCC citizens to facilitate the paper work.
The official, who was not named, said the new concept would be initially applied for one week before it is fully implemented.
“There will also be several precautionary measures to deal with emergencies, such as technical failures at the Bahraini or Saudi posts,” he said. “The agreement to ease the border crossing procedures was reached by the various committees from the interior ministries of the two countries,” he added.
King Fahd Causeway, Bahrain’s only terrestrial link to another country, was officially inaugurated on November 26, 1986. It has become one of the busiest traffic sectors in the Arab world, necessitating drastic changes to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.
Officials said that millions of people, vehicles and trucks have used it since it was opened.
