via Beitbridge Border Post chaos scaring away investors: Chombo – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 15, 2016
HOME Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo has expressed concern at the chaos at Beitbridge Border Post, saying it was scaring away investors and creating loopholes for revenue leakages.
BY Staff Reporter
Chombo, who was touring the border post on a fact-finding mission last Friday said the situation at one of the busiest inland ports of entry in sub-Saharan Africa was deplorable and exposed the country to revenue leakages.
Over 500 vehicles and 10 000 travellers pass through Beitbridge every day.
“There is organised chaos here which needs to be attended to as a matter of urgency. The port lacks soft and hard infrastructure that includes information technology and inspection bays, among others, to deal with high volumes of traffic,” Chombo said.
“Travellers have to move from one office to another when they can have their papers facilitated under one roof. This has to end.”
Travellers sometimes spend six to 18 hours at the port of entry to complete immigration and customs formalities while for commercial traffic to be cleared it takes about three days.
The delays in the clearance of cargo and travellers have resulted in increased cost of goods and services.
“It is very difficult to differentiate local people and travellers because of this chaos and I have instructed the police to clear the area and ensure that it is easy to tell a visitor and a non-visitor,” Chombo said.
Statistics show that 10 million tonnes of cargo pass through the corridor every year.
“An ideal situation would be all paper work relating to the migration of a person be done under one roof,” he said.
The Home Affairs minister said he was told of various challenges faced by government workers based at the border which included lack of accommodation and transport.
“I will have to engage the Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa over some of the challenges highlighted here,” he said.
COMMENTS
I would like to thank the minister for taking a tour at the boader post and see for himself what the hell is happening at Beitbridge. I am glad that he also have found out the major causes of the chaos. How on earth can you move from one payment point to the other as if this is a private company? The best solution will be as follows: 1. Payment of road access, tollgate insurance and capon tax should be consolidated and paid at once. TIPs should be pre done and only the vehicle information left plank . The vistors with motor vehicles should have there own place where their passports and verifications are done. I wish if the minister can make his visits on days towards xmas and other public holidays.
IS THIS THE ONLY CHAOS HELLO!! YOUR NEXT VISIT WILL BE IN 2020
HOW CAN YOU EXPECT CHINAMASA TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM WITH NO MONEY THAT’S A FOOLISH THOUGHT.
THAT BORDER IS ONLY GOOD FOR GETTING OUT PERMANENTLY. IT HAS BEEN A MESS FOR 36 YEARS
And furthermore, put an end to off duty customs and immigration officials acting as touts.
That chaos is what is feeding your unemployed youth who are roaming the streets. If the minister had just stopped a minute and think why are there so much people loitering and doing nothing is such a place he would have realised how hungry the youth are. If he talks of 10000 travelers everyday, the minister would have realised also another fact that why are they so many of Zimbabweans going to South Africa in such numbers when before even during the war times there were not even near or a tenth of that number. However he decided to be blind and not think. Also these youth are all of them connected to the ZRP and the military who are also a menace in facilitating cross border jumping into neighboring SA. Zimbabwe has a population quarter of SA millions, but these few are struggling to survive in a country once considered the jewel of Africa, all due to poor governance of Mugabe the unshameless dictator. Border post has almost every government department representative all in an effort to milk these pathetic travelers. There are hods of CIOs, ZRP, Military and military inteligence, agriculture, finance, tourism and zinara etc. Going across, there is very little presence of all these. Create economic activities all these youth, women and men will not congest the border.