News / National
New deadline for importing secondhand vehicles set to 31 Oct
06 Jun 2011 at 08:44hrs | Views
The government has cleared confusion over the deadline for importing secondhand vehicles aged five years and above, saying the cut-off date is October 31 as stated in the statutory instrument gazetted early last month, not June 30.
There had been confusion over the cut-off date with Transport, Communication and Infrastructure Development Permanent Secretary Mr Partson Mbiriri insisting it was June 30 while the statutory instrument gazetted early last month indicated October 31.
Mr Mbiriri, on three occasions since last month, reiterated that the cut-off date remained June 30.
However, Transport, Communication and Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche yesterday clarified the deadline, in a statement, saying no one would be barred from importing vehicles, which were five-years-old or more until consultations with relevant stakeholders were completed.
"I want to advise all concerned that no one will be barred from importing vehicles which are more than five-years-old until the consultative process is completed.
"Therefore, the effective date restricting the importation of secondhand vehicles into the country remains 31st October by which date the consultative process would have been completed to which my office will give further direction," he said.
The October 31 deadline was announced in the Government Gazette published on April 1 2011.
But Mr Mbiriri insisted the deadline was June 30.
Recently, Mr Mbiriri said the Government was only considering extending the age limit of vehicles to be imported and the October 31 deadline was only for registration of the vehicles.
After noting the confusion and panic by the public, Minister Goche said: "Let me assure the transport sector and the public in general that my ministry is seriously looking into your concerns particularly as they relate to Section 10 and 65, which dealt with the left-hand drive and importation of any vehicle that is five years and above." As the June 30 deadline approached, panic and confusion gripped car dealers and individuals who were rushing to beat the deadline as asserted by Mr Mbiriri.
Over the past weeks congestion was common at the Beitbridge Border Post as Zimbabwe Revenue Authority workers struggled to clear the imports.
The banning of secondhand vehicles followed Statutory Instrument 154 on Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use) Regulations, issued in September last year.
The regulations among other measures sought to ban the importation of left-hand drive vehicles by 2015.
Section 65 of SI reads: "No person shall import any motor vehicle for registration and use on any road in Zimbabwe if the year of manufacture from the country of origin is more than five years."
Minister Goche said the regulations were meant to consolidate various pieces of amendments that have been made to the regulations and to harmonise the road safety standards adopted by Sadc member states.
He said extension of the deadline from March 31 2011 to October 31 2011 was designed to afford Government enough time to consider appeals from the public.
"During the period before the publication of SI 154/2010 and the period after the publication, my office received numerous appeals from the transport sector players and the public in general in order to give adequate consideration to the appeals without compromising the integrity of our systems, through which these regulations had gone through and approved.
"I found it prudent to postpone the effective dates of the various sections cited above through the publication of Statutory Instrument 44 0f 2011 which Statutory Instrument was published in the Government Gazette of 1st April 2011," he said.
On Thursday the Transport Operators' Association of Zimbabwe challenged Government to reconsider the ban of left hand vehicles from the country's roads by December 31 2015 in terms of the Sadc protocol on transport as agreed by member states.
The association said the early ban of October 31 2011 would result in the total collapse of the heavy transport sector in Zimbabwe.
There had been confusion over the cut-off date with Transport, Communication and Infrastructure Development Permanent Secretary Mr Partson Mbiriri insisting it was June 30 while the statutory instrument gazetted early last month indicated October 31.
Mr Mbiriri, on three occasions since last month, reiterated that the cut-off date remained June 30.
However, Transport, Communication and Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche yesterday clarified the deadline, in a statement, saying no one would be barred from importing vehicles, which were five-years-old or more until consultations with relevant stakeholders were completed.
"I want to advise all concerned that no one will be barred from importing vehicles which are more than five-years-old until the consultative process is completed.
"Therefore, the effective date restricting the importation of secondhand vehicles into the country remains 31st October by which date the consultative process would have been completed to which my office will give further direction," he said.
The October 31 deadline was announced in the Government Gazette published on April 1 2011.
But Mr Mbiriri insisted the deadline was June 30.
Recently, Mr Mbiriri said the Government was only considering extending the age limit of vehicles to be imported and the October 31 deadline was only for registration of the vehicles.
After noting the confusion and panic by the public, Minister Goche said: "Let me assure the transport sector and the public in general that my ministry is seriously looking into your concerns particularly as they relate to Section 10 and 65, which dealt with the left-hand drive and importation of any vehicle that is five years and above." As the June 30 deadline approached, panic and confusion gripped car dealers and individuals who were rushing to beat the deadline as asserted by Mr Mbiriri.
The banning of secondhand vehicles followed Statutory Instrument 154 on Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use) Regulations, issued in September last year.
The regulations among other measures sought to ban the importation of left-hand drive vehicles by 2015.
Section 65 of SI reads: "No person shall import any motor vehicle for registration and use on any road in Zimbabwe if the year of manufacture from the country of origin is more than five years."
Minister Goche said the regulations were meant to consolidate various pieces of amendments that have been made to the regulations and to harmonise the road safety standards adopted by Sadc member states.
He said extension of the deadline from March 31 2011 to October 31 2011 was designed to afford Government enough time to consider appeals from the public.
"During the period before the publication of SI 154/2010 and the period after the publication, my office received numerous appeals from the transport sector players and the public in general in order to give adequate consideration to the appeals without compromising the integrity of our systems, through which these regulations had gone through and approved.
"I found it prudent to postpone the effective dates of the various sections cited above through the publication of Statutory Instrument 44 0f 2011 which Statutory Instrument was published in the Government Gazette of 1st April 2011," he said.
On Thursday the Transport Operators' Association of Zimbabwe challenged Government to reconsider the ban of left hand vehicles from the country's roads by December 31 2015 in terms of the Sadc protocol on transport as agreed by member states.
The association said the early ban of October 31 2011 would result in the total collapse of the heavy transport sector in Zimbabwe.
Source - TNZ
