Due to the closure of Mant Wine gate in Muse by the Chinese authorities in Yunnan, allgedely due to COVID-19, as well as subsequent set of rules for cargo trucks issued on April 19 meant that many fruit merchants are suffering losses.
"What's going down now is that the amount of fruit cargo trucks arriving there and their rules are clashing. On field, there are around 2300 cargo trucks waiting to get into China with around 700 melon trucks and 1600 watermelon trucks. So ther daily capacity of allowing trucks inside that have been queuing along the 105th mile road is like 40 to 50 trucks perday, assuming that it takes around half an hour per truck to conduct checks. They are also charging around 1800 for the cost of checking a truck and the traders having to bear that expense is going to hurt them. And also it maybe that due to having to wait too long, the fruits will no longer be fresh so it may even be that even if they get into China, they will not be getting back even the amount paid for the checks at the gate. That's why some trucks have turned back because just getting there and attempting to sell in China will have already cost the merchants around Ks 6 Lakhs already. Some trucks are still waiting for 10 15 days. Some drivers are just opting to just ask enough for fuel to turn back into Myanmar, giving the fruits away for free," said deputy chair Aung Thet Oo of Muse 105th mile fruits wholesale distributers.
According to rules set by the Yunnan government, one cargo truck will require around 30 samples of COVID-19 tests, costing around 60 Yuan per test. Furthermore, mandatory COVID-19 tests everyday will cost around 60 Yuan for everyone.
Merchants have said that an appeal letter to relax some restrictions have been sent.
The current rates for a watermelon truck-full is only around 5000 to 6000 Yuan as it takes as much as 15 days just to get into China. For musk melons, it only goes for around 3000 and 3500 Yuan which does not even cover the cost for the cargo truck as around a 60 miles journey to Muse with a 12-wheeler cargo truck costs around 25 Lakhs per trip.
