dyton mupawaenda
The Herald, 22 September, 1994
THE Beitbridge Rural District Council will have to submit another application for growth point status because all its initial correspondence was not complete.
“The applications for growth point status were submitted without any documents from the Matabeleland South provincial development council . . . there is no way the head office can approve of that,” said Matabeleland South provincial administrator, Mr Zwelibanzi Mzilethi.
A local authority should make recommendations to the provincial development council which in turn should debate and make a resolution.
Beitbridge council submitted numerous applications but all without the provincial council’s blessing.
“In fact, I have gone through all the available minutes of the provincial development council and there is nothing reflecting that growth point status for Beitbridge was ever discussed,” said Mr Mzilethi.
He said his office will call for an urgent meeting to have the issue discussed and approved by the council, then expedite the application to Harare for approval.
Beitbridge has over the years submitted applications seeking growth point status but without success.
Plumtree, another border town in Matabeleland South, already is a growth point enabling it to easily borrow money for development from the World Bank and other finance houses.
Growth points have an added advantage that investors would enjoy tax exemptions introduced in an effort to spread development.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
Situated in Matabeleland Province, Beitbridge Border Post is now a town. The economic developments taking place there will soon catapult it to city status.
Beitbridge is a key border town as it is home to the country’s and the region’s busiest land port by virtue that it connects Zimbabwe to its largest trading partner South Africa with over 2 500 vehicles and hundreds of people passing to and from Zimbabwe and South Africa every day.
This significant land port has grown extensively under the Second Republic, which saw it fit to modernise the border and has helped eliminate inefficiencies and bottlenecks at the port of entry as well as facilitate the smooth movement of passenger and cargo vehicles, goods and services between the two borders.
The modernisation of the border post bodes well for businesses and people living in Beitbridge as it improves the local economy due to the high number of people that continue to visit the border post.
Online Reporter