Chirundu one-stop border post set to go in April

It is down to the final items in sorting out the one-stop border post in Chirundu between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The old bridge will be fixed by March and the intention is to open the one-stop border post early in April even though the official launch will only take place once the politicians have agreed on a date. Barney Curtis, the executive officer of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), says that this will bring a very big change to the region as it will be the first of hopefully many such border posts to be converted to one-stop. “As it is the first in Africa, there is a lot of nitty-gritty to resolve which was never thought of when the original documents were drawn up. The biggest problem was getting each department, such as customs, health, agriculture, etc, to agree on the overall structure and operations at the border post. “The politicians have been very good. The Chirundu one-stop border post was agreed on at a Codesa meeting four years ago and they have supported the process ever since. We are still waiting for Zambia to pass the law enabling the country to operate the post, but the minister has assured us that he will accelerate the process. Zimbabwe passed its law quite a few months ago. “The last few items that need attention include training, finalising exactly how the facilities are to be shared, and spelling out the detail on exactly how the border post will be managed once it is up and running.” The next one-stop border post on the agenda is Lebombo/Ressano Garcia. “Unfortunately this is a bit of a mess partly because all the stakeholders weren’t involved in the original decision-making process. It will happen but not soon as the funds available are insufficient to finance the proposed new infrastructure.” Curtis said.