Zim to compensate Beitbridge Border Post contractor

Published: 09 April 2014

Zimbabwe might have to compensate the company which was contracted to transform Beitbridge Border Post into a one-stop entry point in 2010 if Government engages another company to finish the job.

Addressing the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority commissioner general Gershem Pasi said the contract, which was terminated by former Finance Minister Tendai Biti, would have eased the congestion at the border post and made operations smoother.

Pasi said plans to make Beitbridge a One-Stop Border were approved and a company to undertake the project contracted before the formation of the inclusive government in February 2009.

However, Biti stopped the works which had already commenced because he felt it was not economically wise.

"The contract was legal and binding but it was stopped with no legal basis. If we get another contractor to finish the reconstruction of Beitbridge, we might have to compensate the old contractor," said Pasi.

He said when the contract was terminated, the company had moved on site and had already spent approximately $5 million on designs and construction of shelters and some workers' accommodation.

"We only supplied the blueprint of what we wanted done so everything that was done on site was done by the contractor," he added.

The Zimra boss said Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa had been directed to renegotiate so that the work might resume.

Modeled along the lines of the one-stop concept at Chirundu Border Post, the upgrade was meant to be a build-operate-transfer project, under which the promoters were to run the facility for 15 years to recoup costs and profit before handing it over to government.

Beitbridge is one of the busiest border posts in the region, handling more than 12 000 travelers and 3 500 vehicles daily at its peak. Last year alone, the border post recorded 4,1 million incoming travelers, up from 3,9 million recorded in 2012. Outgoing travelers topped 3,7 million from 3,5 million in the previous year.
- BH24

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