BULAWAYO South legislator Eddie Cross (MDC-T) has called on government to urgently operationalise the national border post authority to bring sanity at the country’s entry points, saying the current chaotic scenes at borders were frustrating most foreign investors and tourists.
BY NQOBILE BHEBHE
Cross told Parliament on Thursday that haulage trucks at Beitbridge Border Post sometimes took 16 days to be cleared, thereby incurring parking costs of R2 000 a day.
“Everybody in this House who has had to use one of our border posts, particularly Beitbridge, will understand the situation that confronts visitors to Zimbabwe.
“I personally have witnessed foreign tourists arriving at Beitbridge, turning back, and going back into South Africa because they simply could not face the chaos,” he said.
“Everyday at Beitbridge, over 700 heavy-duty vehicles cross the bridge with 14 million tonnes of cargo a year. It is by far the busiest border post in southern Africa.”
A ports authority is a government or quasi-government authority formed by a legislative body to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure.
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“Therefore, the formation of a national border post authority is a great step forward because at least there will be somebody in charge,” he saud
“At the moment, you get 10 to 12 agencies of the government at the border posts — CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation), police, Zimra (Zimbabwe Revenue Authority), immigration, tourism, health, agriculture, they are all there — but nobody is in charge. Therefore, nobody takes responsibility for this chaotic situation.”
