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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
THE government is in the process of modernising the country’s border posts in a move that will see the installation of Closed Circuit Cameras to monitor adherence to border procedures.

Presenting the 2016 National Budget in parliament on Thursday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said border posts were facing serious challenges with revenue leakages due to smuggling and corruption.

He said the illegal activities were depriving the fiscus of resources that should be deployed towards national infrastructure development and service delivery.

“The government is putting in place various measures to deal with the scourge. Implementation of some of these will be immediate, while others will require investment and time.

“The immediate measures involve the establishment of transparent systems for handling goods, installation of Closed Circuit Cameras at all critical points across the country’s points of entry, introduction of Client Timeline Service Registers, automation of systems at all border posts, parallel to CCTV coverage,” said Minister Chinamasa.

He said harnessing Information Communication Technology would not only speed up service delivery processes, but also optimise use of online platforms.

“These online platforms minimise physical interface between service providers and their clients, which ordinarily create opportunities for corrupt practices. These measures should be in place by the first half of 2016,” said Minister Chinamasa.

The Minister said the government was also in the process of upgrading Beitbridge Border Post to international standards.

“Beitbridge Border Post is one of the busiest inland ports in Sub-Saharan Africa, which links the Northern and Southern Corridors. It’s necessary to put in place interim measures to alleviate the current challenges and also take advantage of the strategic position of the Border Post.

“The border post lacks capacity in both soft and hard infrastructure that includes information technology and inspection bays, among others, to deal with high volumes of traffic,” said Minister Chinamasa.

Bona fide travellers, Minister Chinamasa added, are experiencing serious inconveniences taking an average of six to 18 hours to complete immigration and customs formalities.

“It also takes about three days for commercial traffic to be cleared yet the border post should facilitate efficient trade.

“The delays in clearance of cargo and travellers have, however, resulted in increased cost of doing business and ultimately the cost of goods and services,” said the minister.

He said the challenges have created opportunities for rent seeking activities, whereby travellers end up paying bribes in order to speed up clearance procedures or avoid paying duty.

“In this regard, Treasury will identify a company to install a CCTV system that will be used to monitor adherence to border procedures by ZIMRA and other agencies,” he said.

Furthermore, the government will engage an independent border post expert to reorganise Beitbridge border post. The expert will work in collaboration with Zimra customs officials and report to the chairperson of the Zimra Board.”