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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE volume of traffic and number of travellers passing through Beitbridge Border Post has slightly increased as Zimbabweans, mostly those based in South Africa return home ahead of Christmas.
Already, Government has put in place mechanisms to tackle congestion by deploying adequate personnel and material resources at all the country’s ports of entry and exit.
In addition, most services have been automated to reduce the human interface between border authorities and travellers, a major cause of corruption.
For years, Beitbridge Border Post has been synonymous with congestion during peak periods resulting in travellers spending days in queues waiting to be cleared.
This was largely attributed to poor infrastructure and inadequate human resources to handle increased seasonal traffic.
The border handles about 2 000 commercial trucks, 300 buses, 3 000 light vehicles, 20 000 travellers daily with the numbers tripling up during the holidays.
However, this year, travellers using the border post are likely to experience less congestion following the separation of traffic into commercial, bus and light vehicles categories.
The ZimBorders Consortium secured nearly US$300 million for the upgrade and modernisation of Beitbridge Border Post, the country’s busiest port of entry and one of the region’s key transit points.
The consortium is made up of a group of Zimbabweans, South Africans, international entrepreneurs, financial institutions and experts. Construction and development of all works — both in port and out of the port — is scheduled to be completed in 30 months.
The project is being implemented under a public-private partnership involving the Government and private players who are providing funding.
It is being implemented under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement which will see ZimBorders recouping its funds through border access fees to be collected over 17-and-a-half years, before handing over the property to the Government.
It is also envisaged that the volume of humans and cargo will increase when the project is completed next year.
Each category of traffic gets customised services depending on their needs at the three terminals.
Already, most border agencies have been witnessing an improved traffic flow system since the opening of all the terminals.
The freight terminal opened to traffic in October last year while the bus terminals started operating in June this year. The light motor vehicles and pedestrian terminal opened last Monday.
At the moment, all three terminals are fully functional with immigration officials saying they have cleared a total of 62 770 travellers between December 5 and 10.
Acting head of immigration services at Beitbridge Border Post, Mrs Cannie Magaya said they have already started implementing harmonised clearance systems for the period December 10 and January 10 next year.
“We are geared up for the seasonal traffic and already we have started witnessing a gradual increase in travellers going either side of the border. We expect to have a sharp increase in the coming week as we approach the peak of the festive season,” she said.
“For the period between December 5 and 10, we processed 16 488 arrivals and 15 286 departures at the bus terminal, 14 972 entries and 11 343 exits at the light vehicles and pedestrians’ terminal. A total of 2 401 arrivals and 2 280 departures passed through the freight terminal.”
Mrs Magaya said they have also beefed up security and manpower at all the key points to enhance the flow of traffic.
She said operations and systems, among the border agencies will be reviewed depending on the situation on the ground.
ZimBorders chief executive officer, Mr Francois Diedrechsen said since the opening of the light vehicles terminal they are clearing an average of 1 100 vehicles daily.
“Traffic is peaking daily as the festive season is fast approaching and we have managed to keep it flowing smoothly with little or no queues at this stage notwithstanding the challenges of load shedding both in the country and neighbouring South Africa,” he said.
“In the same vein, we advise the travellers to have their paperwork completed and to adhere to the flow process rules to avoid causing any blockages or frustrations. We have our officers and Government agency staff on the ground at all times to assist travellers.”
ZimBorders general manager Mr Nqobile Ncube said they are working with all major Government agencies to ensure that travellers get premium customised services at the three terminals.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has also deployed adequate human and material resources at all the country’s border posts.
In separate interviews, travellers said they are happy with how border officials are handling the situation including the separation of traffic lanes.
“This time we are getting better services compared to previous years when we would spend long hours or days to enter the country from South Africa,” said a traveller who identified herself as Mai Chirandu.
A motorist, Mr Rafios Chikwerengwe from Chiredzi said it took less than 30 minutes for him to be cleared at the border. — @tupeyo.
Online Reporter