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THE proposed Binga Border Post, which has been on the cards for nearly five years, is likely to be completed during the first quarter of next year as the Government steps up efforts to facilitate trade and movement between Zimbabwe and Zambia. In an interview last week, the chief executive officer of Binga Rural District Council Mr Joshua Muzamba said the local authority had held several consultative meetings with other key stakeholders such as the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) and immigration on the issue of the border post.
“We have held a series of productive stakeholders’ meetings on the issue of Binga Border Post with another meeting scheduled to take place at the end of this month and the general understanding is that the project is likely come to fruition during the first quarter of 2014.
“The border post will help boost the socio-economic development of the district. If a formal border post is set up in Binga it will actually help the local people to tap into the Zambian market for a lot of Zimbabwean products,” said Mr Muzamba.
At the site of the border, there are three staff houses, which have since been completed and ready for occupation.
He said the border post would also foster the development of tourism in the district.
“The border post will blend in well with the Kavango-Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas (TFCA), which covers Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia to foster the development of tourism and the conservation of natural resources in the mentioned countries.
It will also facilitate the movement of traffic and commercial cargo between Zimbabwe and Zambia,” said Mr Muzamba.
Presently, Binga has an informal border post which is only open to locals for social visits. Locals are, however, not allowed to export or import goods to Zambia under the current arrangement forcing them to travel to the Victoria Falls border, which is very far and inconvenient.
“A fully-fledged border post would be ideal given the prevailing conditions and we therefore urge the Government to speed up the Binga Border Post project,” said Mr Muzamba.
He said there was also a need to upgrade the Siabuwa-Gokwe road to facilitate and enhance the movement of agricultural produce such as maize and cotton to and from neighbouring Gokwe District.
“The Siabuwa-Gokwe road is the most critical road linking Binga district and the rest of the country. It is in a bad state and we are appealing to the Government to tar it as that will also speed up the movement of goods, especially maize for distribution to the remotest parts of the district,” he said.
Meanwhile, the councillor for Lunga Ward in Binga District, Clr Saina Muntanga, said his area lacked communication and radio coverage.
“We are appealing to telecommunication companies to install boosters at Lunga so that people have access to communication just like other people in the country.
“There is no radio coverage and Chunga Clinic, which services the entire area, requires a radio communication system to make it easier to contact an ambulance in the event of an emergency,” he said.
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