Muloza Border operations affected by Cyclone Freddy

* Due to damaged road infrastructure that forced business players to opt for rail transport for their goods and services

* As renovation of Blantyre in-land examination centre would help to improve the capacity and efficiency in handling imports

By Tione Andsen, MANA

Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) station manager for Muloza Border Post, Adjison Maziwire disclosed that effects of Cyclone Freddy has negative affected their operations.

He said this Friday at Muloza Border Post during a media tour on projects being implemented by Southern Africa Trade and Connectivity Project (SATCP) under Ministry of Transport & Public Works with funding from World Bank as part of the Nacala Corridor development.

Maziwire said the cyclone had damaged road infrastructure and this forced business players to opt for rail transport for their goods and services.

“Before the cyclone, we were handling huge volumes of goods from Mozambique in form of steel, bread flour, cooking oil, molasses and we were exporting products like lime, eggs, chicks, plastics, paper sheetings and clothes.

“We are still recovering but most business entities they regard it as closed border due to the situation,” said Maziwire, who added that currently they are clearing 120 trucks and over 350 passenger service vehicles although the facility lacks proper parking space to handle large volumes of cargo.

He hoped that the construction of the new facility through SATCP funds would help to facilitate trade between the two country and enhance regional integration within the Nacala Corridor, saying: “We need to have a new facility which could handle the volumes of cargo unlike what we have now where trucks park along the M2 road waiting for clearance.”

Muloza Border is normally used as a transit route for goods between Tete and Nampula and Maziwire disclosed that due to porous border, smuggling remains a challenge to them because the natural boundary between the two countries is the Muloza river.

“Muloza River is the natural boundary between the two countries and smugglers utilise it to smuggle goods during dry seasons. We have a working partnership with communities who normally assist us to apprehend them.

He said there would be a need to have a strong surveillance system in order to curb the malpractice because that would turn into a conduit area for smugglers.

Road Authority (RA) Public Relations Manager, Portia Kajanga said with funds from SATCP, the border was earmarked for rehabilitation and expansion while also admitting that Cyclone Freddy exposed that the site was disaster-prone area and needs to be relocated to safe grounds.

“We have not come up with the plan for the new One Stop Border Post because we still doing some studies,” she said. “The change in the initial plan will an implication on the original budget since there was no construction of road and bridge.”

She said an extra US$10 million would be needed to cover the shortfall in the implementation of the project at the site.

Meanwhile, MRA Deputy Commissioner for Customs, Moses Masina says the renovation of Blantyre in-land examination centre would help to improve the capacity and efficiency in handling imports.

The modernisation of the centre would help to reduce number of days in clearing goods unlike what was happening the border posts where there were a lot of congestion and Masina added that trucks would make minor formalities at the border posts but the actual examinations would be done at the centre using modern equipment.

He said this was part of MRA reforms that recommended that all containers should directed to come to the centre for examination by using modern technologies unlike the physical check which were being conducted.

“We are clearing goods coming from Mwanza, Muloza, Mchinji, Nsanje or Songwe border posts,” he said. “With the SATCP funding will be installing a high tech scanner which will help as to determine the kind of goods which can be off loaded or not without even opening it.”

He added that the centre would have face light and a parking base would be constructed to enable the importers place their containers for inspection and examination.

“We need to have proper offices in order to enjoy good working environment. We will be installing CCTV cameras, air conditioners as part of the supporting the centre will be getting from SATCP,” Masina said.

Blantyre-based truck operator, Jeremiah Amoni said the new arrangements of clearing the goods at the centre has helped to reduce number days spent at the border.

“We were spending a lot of time in clearing our goods at the border,” he said. “They were doing physical checking of our goods which was time consuming most of the time. This initiative would help us significantly and border hassles will be a thing of the past.”