Chirundu, Kazungula border posts upgrade penned

BUUMBA CHIMBULU wites THE Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has signed an agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the project on capacity development for smooth operation of One Stop Border Post (OSBP) on the north-south transport corridor. The project will cover the Chirundu and Kazungula border posts. ZRA Commissioner General, Kingsley Chanda, explained that JICA had supported many sectors of the Zambian economy citing the construction of new bridge at OSBP. “You may recall that the Chirundu One-Stop Border Post was the first to be established on the African continent. Despite this milestone, Chirundu One Stop Border Post has not fully actualised the ideal trade facilitation efficiency that was anticipated,” Mr Chanda said. He was quick to mention that the immigration aspect of the ChirunduOSBP had performed exceptionally well. Considering that Chirundu was Zambia’s biggest border in terms of revenue collection and traffic volumes, it was important that the Authority ensure that operations at border are improved. Mr Chanda said this at the signing of the record of discussion for project for capacity development for smooth operation of OSBP on the north-south transport corridor in Lusaka yesterday. “We therefor commend JICA for championing the initiative to improve the One-Stop Border Post operations at Chirundu and ensure that the lessons learnt from Chirundu are replaced at Kazungula and other borders,” he said. Chirundu and Kazungula are very important links on transport corridors in the region. JICA Zambia chief resident representative Kazuhiko Tokuhashiexplained that the purpose of this project was to ensure that customer’s clearance procedures of the targeted OSBP are improved and the overall goal was enhanced trade on north-south corridor through this corridor was facilitated. Mr Tokuhashi said OSBP are going to be critical, saying that they are going to reduce the transit delays and simplification of clearance procedure in single location. “Zambia is surrounded by eight countries. As such the international transport corridor development is very important for the nation. “The north-south corridor which connects the Durban port in South Africa with Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) via Kazungula or Chirundu is going to be one of the most important corridors,” he said. The Sun