Police, customs and work inspectors performed a large-scale inspection of buses to Morocco this past weekend. About 100 passengers, each with an average of 40 kilo of baggage, were held up for hours, according to De Morgen.
Belgium will sharply increase the number of inspections this summer. A result of a protocol concluded in February between Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Morocco. The managers of the Belgian-Moroccan travel agencies think it's a good thing.
An impressive police force swooped in on the Stalingradlaan in Brussels this weekend, in order to inspect all buses about to leave for South-Spain or Morocco. The line had been plagued for years by moonlighters, lack of permits and not respecting driving and rest times. In the past the buses sometimes turned out to be a cloak for drug smuggling.
Jean Wyns, head of the Federation of Belgian bus and car entrepreneurs (FBAA) says that the Stalingradlaan is a special world with its own laws. Most companies are correct, but some agencies don't care about the regulations and are not penalized for it. The worse thing s that the bonafide companies are lumped together with the cheats, which damages the image of the sector.
Wyns stresses that the authorities must keep it up and that a one-time action doesn't help. If the inspections won't continue, he says, within three months things will be back to what they were.
Source: HLN (Dutch)
See also: Moroccan bus accident
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