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Conrad Mupesa
Mashonaland West Bureau
THE long-awaited construction of the Makuti Dry Port near Chirundu is now at an advanced stage and when complete, will allow pre-clearance of north-bound cargoes.
Government approved architectural designs for the proposed multimillion-dollar dry port at Makuti in Hurungwe district in 2022.
The facility is expected to decongest Chirundu Border Post by allowing cargo trucks to be cleared before reaching the border on the Zimbabwean side.
It is a pilot project for three other dry ports to be established in Masvingo to decongest Beitbridge, in Bulawayo which is set to decongest Plumtree Border Post and in Mutare to decongest Forbes Border Post, under Statutory Instrument 55 of 2020.
Already, some of the stretches along the Makuti-Chirundu highway have been widened in line with the broader scope of the decongestion of the Chirundu Border Post.
Hurungwe Rural District Council acting chief executive Ms Felistus Muteta said construction of the dry port on 50 hectares was expected to begin soon as the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority had finished its sewer designs.
“Zimra has finished the designs for the sewer and they will start the structures soon. The sewer will cover the whole area of Makuti,” she said.
Ms Muteta said according to standard infrastructure development, the setting up of sewer lines and ponds, was a big step towards the construction of the dry port.
Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Dr Marian Chombo, said during the 18th Annual Conference of the Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe held in Kariba recently that the dry port would boost the province’s gross domestic product.
“The setting up of the dry port at Makuti is going to transform the area into a town thereby creating a financial ecosystem that will spur development and increase the province’s GDP,” she said.
Online Reporter