The ManicaPost
Abel Zhakata Senior Reporter
CLEARING agents operating at Forbes Border Post in Mutare who were refusing to vacate their premises to pave way for road reconstruction at the port of entry have finally taken heed of the Government directive and relocated to a new spacious complex.
The Shipping and Forwarding Agents’ Association of Zimbabwe had appealed to Government for more time to relocate their members’ offices arguing that the two-week ultimatum they were given three weeks ago would disrupt business at the border.
When The Post Business visited the border this week agents were busy demolishing their old structures, relocating to a nearby open space.
A good number of the agents had begun constructing new buildings while some were in the process of hiring plant equipment to ferry their container offices to the new site.
Those interviewed said although business had been temporarily disrupted the road reconstruction would ease the flow of transport at the border.
“This was a short notice and as you can see we are hurrying to demolish our offices and set camp at the new site. We rely on the Internet to do our work and in the mean time we are crippled. However, the future looks bright with the road reconstructions.
Congestion will be eased and what it means is that traffic will flow smoothly. We will get more business at the end of the day,” said an official with one of the agents who requested anonymity.
The SFAAZ through its chief executive officer, Mr Joseph Musariri, had complained that its members must be compensated first before relocating since they were legal tenants who were paying monthly rentals to the Mutare Rural District Council. He said agents renting offices at the border post had invested a lot into the structures.
“The agents were paying rentals to the rural district council. This gave them some form of security of tenure in what turns out now to be an illegal occupation of those structures. Relocating to any other place will require immediate provision of electricity and internet connection to the offices. Compensation of the destruction of the current offices should also be considered.
“Constructions of new offices require time and other resources to do so. Disruption of our services to exporters and importers needs to be avoided. Forbes Border Post is a major regional transit point and disruption of this service to neighbouring countries does not put Zimbabwe in good light regionally,” he said.
