Nakonde operations back to normal

OPERATIONS at Nakonde border which was under lockdown due to the increase in Covid-19 cases have returned to normal, Zambia Revenue Authority Commissioner- General Kingsley Chanda has said.

And Mr Chanda said the ZRA has started operating at Chirundu border for the next one week.

He told the Daily Nation yesterday, this was arrived at after consultations with other revenue authorities in the region, particularly Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

Mr. Chanda said the ZRA was working with other Government agencies to ensure the public were served in an efficient manner and reduce congestion at the borders.

“The Covid-19 pandemic had created a huge upsurge in traffic volumes at Chirundu and Nakonde border posts in the past weeks due to traffic diversions from other entry points attributable to health measures implemented by some transit countries in the region.

“This has caused enormous pressure on the social and health amenities to the communities at the two entry points and if left unchecked may exacerbate the current pandemic. This measure will also reduce the costs of doing business in the country and these measures shall be reviewed in line with the prevailing situation at the time.

“The Authority would like to encourage all importers, exporters and clearing agents to take advantage of the online platforms to lodge in entries from anywhere any time. This is because the authority has increased human resource capacity for the two borders to ensure speedy processing of all entries,” Mr Chanda said.