In an interview with The Zimbabwean, the CEO of Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe (SFAAZ), Joseph Musariri, said lack of cooperation amongst the stakeholders present at the border was largely responsible for the long truck queues that were seen a couple of weeks ago at the border. Following a crisis meeting held by the stakeholders, ZRP, Immigration, SFAAZ, VID, ZIMRA and others, the situation is now under control.
Amongst the intervention measures put in place, the border opening times were temporarily extended from 8am-5pm to 6am-8pm, restoration of order of truck queues by ZRP, waiving of weighing of the trucks by VD and cooperation from Zambian counterparts. Traffic is now also being selected at the border, as all tankers, trucks carrying dangerous goods and bulk cargo are now being given special preference. This is because Zambian border officials do not scan these vehicles, as they only scan containerised cargos. That way, these vehicles are now being cleared faster, thereby decongesting the border. There is now better cooperation at the border and it’s taking about 24 hours for a truck to be cleared.
The Chirundu border post clears about 250 trucks into Zambia and 250 into Zimbabwe every day.
Post published in: News