daniel chigunwe
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
Beitbridge Border Post will never be the same, again! Work on the port of entry by the Government of Zimbabwe through a Private Public Partnership (PPP) with the Zimborders Consortium has brought a modernisation plinth that gives it an international business stature.
And, accompanying this, is the ease of doing business and improved service delivery.
The 17-and-a-half-year concession, has helped put the town on a real facelift and is ushering a new business timbre.
With an estimated population of 70 000 and a daily transit population of 15 000 people, the border clears about 7 million travellers annually.
That is no mean feat.
Zimborders Consortium chief executive, Mr Francois Diedrechsen said the border project was being implemented in three phases.
The freight, roads, Information Communication Technology (ICT) are in phase one, a bus terminal in phase 2 and the light vehicles and out-of-port works in Phase 3.
To date, more than 1 600 Zimbabweans have been employed.
Some of the project’s spill-over civil works within Beitridge Town are the construction of a new fire station, an animal quarantine centre, a sewer oxidation dam, a landfill, Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (road upgrading), construction of 220 staff houses and 11,4 megalitres of potable water plant.
“It is pleasing to note that efficiencies have improved at the border following the opening of the freight and bus terminals,” said Mr Diedrechsen.
“The turnaround time for commercial trucks transiting through this border has improved from three days to three hours since we came into operation.
“Whilst this is a major improvement, we continue to analyse and implement processes to further reduce this time as we move forward.”
He said they were also confident that the opening of the bus terminal on June 1, will reduce the time ordinary people spending at the port of entry.
The official said the automation of services was critical in addressing delays around the physical searches of cargo and buses.
Mr Diedrechsen said they will continue to monitor the situation at the bus terminal and fix challenges on the dot.
“To enhance the smooth flow of traffic through this border, as Zimborders we are now having several consultation sessions with bus and taxi federations, as well as informal traders’ groups, and the sentiments since going live have been very positive and constructive.
“In fact, we have undertaken to have frequent sessions together to keep identifying areas where we can continue to improve the efficiencies,” said the official.
Regional Immigration Officer-in-Charge of Beitbridge, Mr Joshua Chibundu, said the separation of traffic into commercial, buses and light vehicles had helped address some bottlenecks around the border efficiency management systems.
He said now they were handling traffic based on its needs and that they were hoping the situation will improve further in November upon completion of the light vehicles terminal.
Mr Chibundu said previously the border stakeholders would operate from one crowded building, but now they had more infrastructure to accommodate everyone, comfortably.
“Efficiency management systems are gradually improving and we have enough facilities to operate from,” he said.
Ms Margret Mutsamwira said following the opening of the bus terminals, they were spending less time at the border since all the terminals had dedicated staff to assist them.
She said using the border in the last seven years had become a headache due to delays.
“The ambiance of the border has even improved and it appears there is a change of work ethic among the border workers, they have become efficient,” she said.
Mr Lazarus Takawira commended the Government for walking the talk and delivering its promise to transform the country and Sadc’s busiest inland port.
“The place has really transformed and this makes us proud as Zimbabweans,” he added.
Mrs Tsitsi Mushambi said the border post was now more user-friendly and secure for many travellers.
She said the touts and wheeler-dealers who used to trouble them had been pushed out as a result of the new status quo.
Another traveller identified as Mai Mutambaneshiri said the upgrading of the border had come with clear traffic flow systems.
“The ablution facilities are humane, the traffic flow is well defined, and we are spending less than 30 minutes to complete all the border formalities because we have our own dedicated section.
“We don’t have to compete for space with other border users, including commercial truck drivers or tourists,” said Mrs Mutambaneshiri.
Beitbridge Town Clerk, Mr Loud Ramakgapola said recently they were excited with the spill-over effects of the border modernisation project.
“The border post transformation comes in with a lot of infrastructure development initiatives some of them have been in our plans for a long time, but could not take off due to limited resources,” he said.
“Our sewer has been upgraded and we have a fire station that is coming up, the road network is being upgraded from the border post towards the major cities including Bulawayo and Harare.
In addition, the Zimborders Consortium is also going to assist us to modernise our dumpsite in the west of the town, where we have already identified a site”.
He said the construction of a new 11,4 megalitres reservoir will boost the town’s water supply capacity to supply at least 18 megalitres of water daily.
As part of the town’s transformation, some 28 F14 houses for civil servants were completed last year by the Government and have already been allocated to the beneficiaries.
Online Reporter