Your wish is my command :smoke:
I've used this method in Haiti. It works great. The text is from Marc Vachon (a fellow logistician), entitled "Rebel Without Borders" he writes about his time trying to get supplies into a cholera camp in Goma, DRC. The book is great:
We reached the camp 24 hours later. As we?d arrived without authorization, the camp logistician negotiated with local authorities to let us stay. That wasn?t my job; my task was to deal with the cholera outbreak. But, three hours went by, and we still hadn?t made any progress. I went over to see the head customs officer.
?What?s the problem??
?Boss, the problem is that you don?t have the papers and it?s
not right . . .?
I?d like some baksheesh! was written all over his face. This was Zaire. There were deep-rooted customs no one could circumvent, not even a relief delegation.
?I agree, chief. If I were you, I?d insist on a fine . . .?
?Really??
The look on his face said, This makes sense. He?s talking about money!
?Of course. In Canada, there?d be a fine of $250 per truck and $50 per car for the infraction. It would amount to $1,650 for a 48-hour pass to enter the country and unload the material.?
?Well, boss, it seems like a pretty good idea.?
He flushed. He could almost feel the weight of the cash in his pockets.
Of course, this didn?t sit well with the logistician. He had hoped a little speech would do the trick: ?We?re the good guys, we?re helping you and your brothers. How could you even think of shaking us down?? He was naive.
The Zairian customs officer didn?t give a flying **** about Rwandan refugees. The law of the Third World is ?Every man for himself and God for him, too.? After all, hadn?t we committed an infraction? We weren?t going
to spend days negotiating. There was an emergency on the other side of the border.
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So I tend to say that in X country the solution is for a fine to be imposed at the spot, and isn't it such an elegant solution? Then you have to negotiate what would be an appropriate and not an outrageous fine for whatever infraction has been committed.