Industry calls for ports authority

INDUSTRYhascalledonGovernmentto expeditetheestablishmentofaNational PortsAuthoritytoremoveadministrative bottlenecksatportsofentrywhichhave preventedthesmoothflowofgoodsand people into the country.

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Manicaland chapter chairman Mr CliveChinwadasaidtherewasurgentneed to resolve the congestion at the border posts, particularly at Forbes, where cargo is delayed for days as Zimra officials failed to timeously clear goods.

“InthecaseofManicaland,inefficiencies at the Border Post (Forbes) have become a common feature where long queues are the order of the day.

“We believe that as part of measures to increase the ease of doing business, the establishmentofthePortsAuthorityislong overdue,” he said.

He said the ranking of Zimbabwe at number 153 out of 190 countries in trading across borders was a cause for concern to industry.

“TheMozambicanauthoritieshavesaid the queues at the Border Post have nothing to do with them because they clear the goods in Beira so when they get to the Border, they are being delayed on the Zimbabwean side. We do not want that to continue because part of the goods coming into the country are critical commodities such as fuel. We need to resolve access into the country immediately,” said Mr Chinwada.

Government has long mooted the idea of a National Ports Authority, which is expected to play a key role in taking care of infrastructure issues on all ports of entry.

Aportsauthorityisagovernmentorquasi-governmentpublicauthorityformedbya legislativebodytooperateportsandother transportation infrastructure.

Its aim is to improve the state of infrastructure and clear administrative bottlenecks at the ports of entry.

Zimbabwe is the only country in the Southern African region which does not have a ports authority.

Zimra has in the past said there was no need to establish such an authority as it wasafinancialdrainonthefiscus.However, mostportsauthoritiesacrosstheworldare self-sustaining. The country has 15 ports of entrywhichhaveremainedporousastravellers are faced with numerous challenges fromcorruptofficialstonumerousclearing agents who cause confusion.