Customs way-lays Bulawayo cargo in fraud- prevention move

Air cargo destined for Bulawayo and the western part of Zimbabwe now has to be customs cleared in Harare first, adding to the delays in traffic. The customs department has ruled that Bulawayo can no longer be used as a clearing port, apparently because of fraud involving air waybills.
The restriction has greatly angered Bulawayo business . Says Mahesh Vaghmaria, vice-president of the Matabeleland Chamber of Commerce and Industry:
Government talks about the need to decentralise, but this move is the opposite.
Bulawayo is an industrial city and this is going to create unnecessary delays.
Tsitsi Makomva, a member of the airfreight committee of the Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe, says that whereas clearances took less than a day in Bulawayo, they are now taking up to three days.
The airlines are also declining to move traffic to Bulawayo as a result of the disruptions and goods are having to go by road, which is adding to costs, she says.