Opinion / Columnist
Poor Management of the Chirundu One Stop Border Post
05 Nov 2012 at 05:21hrs | Views
Approaching the Chirundu Border Post, one is met by chaotic snaking of Cross Border Haulage Trucks (Gonyets) blocking the last 1km to the Border Control Area.
As you snake your way around them with negotiations and hooting to make your way to the Border Control Gate you cant help but wonder at the brains behind this chaos.
If you finally make it to the Main gate you are greeted by a sign that says "Welcome to The Chirundu One Stop Border Post (OSBP)" and you wonder so what is all the chaos about if this is the famous OSBP.
If you think now you can drive through and do your One Stop Border Formalities, you have one more surprise coming as the main gate is blocked by more haulage trucks queuing to go to the Weigh Bridge. By the blocked gate sits a representative of RESISTANCE, the security company responsible for the movement of traffic in and out of the Border and he is oblivious to the chaos that his duties are supposed to manage and bring to order. You finally beckon him to clear the trucks from the entrance and you snake your way to the control point after more negotiations with truck drivers and another RESISTANCE security rep.
Alighting from your air conditioned vehicle you are hit by the Chirundu oven heat said to be 41 degrees Celsius with real feel of 46 degrees Celsius according to the weatherman.
The Customs and Immigration building is as hot as you have never felt and you start sweating profusely. You look up to the ceiling and the Aircon ventilations are dead silent. This beautiful complex opened in 2009 no longer has working air conditioning. Coincidentally, I had a lucky chance to meet a representative of a company that installed or was once called for repairs called Aeroloft I think and he said not much needs to be done but the powers that be gave the job to some guy who bungled the repairs. It can easily be repaired as it just had a power surge he assures.
The OSBP like its name is a super fast process.
As you head to the Zambian Side the once chaotic haulage trucks are now in a disciplined single file snaking the bridge to the Zambian side.
We get to the Zambia side of the OSBP and the Air conditioned Customs and Immigration building is a stark contrast to the Zimbabwean oven.
5 minutes later we are through the immigration formalities and are on our way to Lusaka.
What lacks on the Zimbabwean side is one single factor? Management and pride to be the best we can be as Zimbabweans and manage well and responsibly that which we were assigned to manage. This second class citizen mentality is the cause of our poor showing.
Customs and Immigration points are the door way to Zimbabwe and they introduce Zimbabwe as a poorly managed country because of simple management issues like a working air con system and well managed haulage movement system.
Zimbabwean! Raise your Game!
As you snake your way around them with negotiations and hooting to make your way to the Border Control Gate you cant help but wonder at the brains behind this chaos.
If you finally make it to the Main gate you are greeted by a sign that says "Welcome to The Chirundu One Stop Border Post (OSBP)" and you wonder so what is all the chaos about if this is the famous OSBP.
If you think now you can drive through and do your One Stop Border Formalities, you have one more surprise coming as the main gate is blocked by more haulage trucks queuing to go to the Weigh Bridge. By the blocked gate sits a representative of RESISTANCE, the security company responsible for the movement of traffic in and out of the Border and he is oblivious to the chaos that his duties are supposed to manage and bring to order. You finally beckon him to clear the trucks from the entrance and you snake your way to the control point after more negotiations with truck drivers and another RESISTANCE security rep.
Alighting from your air conditioned vehicle you are hit by the Chirundu oven heat said to be 41 degrees Celsius with real feel of 46 degrees Celsius according to the weatherman.
The Customs and Immigration building is as hot as you have never felt and you start sweating profusely. You look up to the ceiling and the Aircon ventilations are dead silent. This beautiful complex opened in 2009 no longer has working air conditioning. Coincidentally, I had a lucky chance to meet a representative of a company that installed or was once called for repairs called Aeroloft I think and he said not much needs to be done but the powers that be gave the job to some guy who bungled the repairs. It can easily be repaired as it just had a power surge he assures.
As you head to the Zambian Side the once chaotic haulage trucks are now in a disciplined single file snaking the bridge to the Zambian side.
We get to the Zambia side of the OSBP and the Air conditioned Customs and Immigration building is a stark contrast to the Zimbabwean oven.
5 minutes later we are through the immigration formalities and are on our way to Lusaka.
What lacks on the Zimbabwean side is one single factor? Management and pride to be the best we can be as Zimbabweans and manage well and responsibly that which we were assigned to manage. This second class citizen mentality is the cause of our poor showing.
Customs and Immigration points are the door way to Zimbabwe and they introduce Zimbabwe as a poorly managed country because of simple management issues like a working air con system and well managed haulage movement system.
Zimbabwean! Raise your Game!
Source - JazMac
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