Source: New-look border turns new page for Zimra – herald
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has said the Beitbridge border modernisation has improved the quality of infrastructural facilities and efficiencies in the overall clearing processes at the SADC’s busiest inland port of entry.
The days of cargo spending between two to four days to pass the border are over, with transporters spending less than three hours to carry out the processes under an automated system, which comes with turnaround time tracking.
The Government and the Zimborders Consortium invested US$300 million into sprucing up the facility as part of the ease of doing business under a 17-and-a-half-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
A total of seven million travellers use Beitbridge Border Post yearly, while 1 200 commercial trucks, 200 buses and 3 000 light vehicles cross the port of entry daily.
It is also a nerve centre and conduit for regional and international trade for Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and Tanzania.
Zimra’s head of customs at Beitbridge Annie Nhekete said during a breakfast meeting held last week with border agencies and the Beitbridge Business expo that the new upgraded border has helped them improve the quality of service delivery and enforce compliance.
She said the port of entry had been divided into separate specialised terminals and channels that deal specifically with pedestrians and private motor vehicles, buses and commercial freight.
She added that all correctly declared goods are now being cleared within the standard turnaround times, resulting in the elimination of long, winding queues that characterised the past.
The post New-look border turns new page for Zimra appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.