POLICE at Beitbridge Border Post have launched investigations into a fire outbreak which took place yesterday morning and destroyed a substantial amount of goods inside a Customs and Excise warehouse.
Source: Police to investigate Beitbridge Border fire – NewsDay Zimbabwe December 28, 2016
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
National police spokesperson chief superintendent Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident, saying the fire was put out by the Beitbridge Fire Brigade after it had destroyed blankets and diapers seized from importers.
“We are investigating the causes of the fire, but I do not have much details as of now,” Nyathi said.
Sources at the border post said security officers manning the Northern Gate raised the alarm after they saw smoke coming from the warehouse.
Efforts to contact Zimbabwe Revenue Authority spokesperson, Canisio Mudzimu, were fruitless as his mobile phone went unanswered.
This is the third fire outbreak in a warehouse in two years to hit the border post.
In November 2014, a warehouse inside the border post went up in smoke destroying seized goods worth millions of dollars. The goods had been stored in the warehouse over non-payment of import duty.
On July 1 this year, another customs warehouse was torched by rioters protesting against the unpopular Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 banning importation of goods deemed locally available.
In the two earlier circumstances importers who lost their goods are yet to be compensated suggesting the government did not have insurance cover for the buildings.
COMMENTS
I wonder how many thefts these convenient regular fires have covered up.
On checking the Warehouse at Beit Bridge I looked at one item described as “a TV with door”. I opened up the package and found it was a microwave oven.