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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
THE Government has secured $600 000 that will be used to upgrade systems and purchase equipment and vehicles to curb leakages at Beitbridge Border Post, the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Ignatius Chombo, said yesterday.
The Minister made the remarks during a tour of Beitbridge Border Post.
Dr Chombo was accompanied by Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa and the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Mrs Chiratidzo Mabuwa.
He said the country was losing a lot of potential revenue through underhand activities at ports of entry.
“Most of our funding is coming from the Ministry of Mines and we have secured a total of $600 000 that we are using to upgrade operations to stop all intrusive leakages at Beitbridge.
“We have bought some motor bikes and vehicles for patrols along the boundary line. Lie detectors have also been acquired so that we curb corruption among border workers,” Dr Chombo said.
He said they had also used the money to acquire CCTV cameras which have already been installed at Beitbridge and were awaiting commissioning.
The secret cameras are already in use.
The Minister said they were also working on setting up a new border perimeter fence to replace the one which was heavily vandalised by criminals.
“Mobile scanners and luggage scanners are now in use and we will do everything in our power in order to increase the revenue collection capacity. It is sad that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority is collecting $800 000 against a daily average of $1,2 million,” he said.
Dr Chombo said they will soon introduce polygraph tests that will see workers at the border being subjected to lie detector tests which is a norm internationally.
Minister Chidhakwa said the Government was worried about the smuggling of minerals including gold and diamonds among others.
He said if new systems are put in place, the Government could realise a lot of revenue from Beitbridge which may be used to fund major capital projects.
Mrs Mabuwa said they were working on speeding up the implementation of the one stop border post with South Africa.
“The one stop border post will help improve trade relations especially the movement of commercial cargo and human traffic,” she said.
Online Reporter