Beitbridge Border Post, congestion eases

Congestion at the Beitbridge Border Post has eased with authorities managing to clear both human and vehicle traffic, a senior immigration officer has said.

This follows the beefing up of staff at the busiest port of entry after the team stationed there failed to cope with the increased volume of traffic.

During the past three weeks, the border post witnessed an increase in activity as migrant workers returned home for the Christmas holiday

Department of Immigration assistant regional officer Mr Charles Gwede said the situation at Beitbridge Border Post had normalised.

"We have tried to deal with the congestion for the past few days and now we are managing the queues. Zimra has also put in place measures to improve the situation," he said.

"We had a challenge in that there was a sudden influx of people and we were not prepared.

"We were caught unawares at a time when we had a shortage of staff."

People at the border post were spending about four hours before being cleared last week.

ill-Timed
Zimra had to deploy 45 more staff while the Department of Immigration beefed up its team with 15 more members.

Clearing agents had criticised Zimra for causing the congestion following the ill-timed introduction of a new clearing system.

The revenue authority introduced the Ayscuda World Clearance System which the staff is still familiarising itself with.

Last week Home Affairs co-Minister Kembo Mohadi and Finance Minister Tendai Biti toured the border post to get an insight into how it was operating.

The ministers also recommended the classification of traffic into returning residents, buses, tourists and visitors to quicken the clearing speed.