Staff Writer
ZIMBABWE Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has commissioned 20 housing units in Chirundu which will go a long way to improve employees’ welfare.
Speaking recently at a function to officially commission the housing units, ZIMRA Commissioner General, Faith Mazani said the project fulfils the revenue collector’s strategy anchored on four pillars which are People, Processes, Partnerships and Projects.
“The first P amongst the four Ps strategy is deliberately our People that is our staff. We realise that in order to continue to deliver on our revenue collection mandate we have to support our staff by providing the tools of trade, infrastructure and the enabling environment for them to implement government policy and strategy,” she said.
She said while the frontier has an approved staff compliment of 150, the complete 20 housing units is a step towards bettering the employees working conditions despite.
“These officers work the one 10-hour shift because we have not been able to house enough officers. The opening of these 20 houses therefore brings a big relief to all of us at ZIMRA. We are anxiously looking forward to the completion of the other three units that will give us an additional 12 houses,” Mazani said.
She highlighted that providing decent housing for staff members at border posts has been and will remain our top priority.
The project is being rolled out at all border and in Kazungula ,construction of four staff houses using a similar design is already in progress.
In Beitbridge 36 by 1 bedroomed residential flats are undergoing construction while Victoria Falls and Forbes Border Posts are also earmarked for similar construction work.
“Admittedly, we have a long way to go in truly recognising and fulfilling the needs of our people but these first few steps are nonetheless important as they demonstrate our commitment to bettering the quality of the lives of our staff as we continue to work towards fulfilling the mandate government has given us,” she added.
Also speaking at the occasion , Finance Minister ,Mthuli Ncube applauded ZIMRA for continuously meeting its revenue collection targets.
“This project is important not only in that it goes a long way towards meeting the housing needs of ZIMRA’s staff, but even more critically, in that it helps in the long run to ensure that our Government meets its long term national and economic objectives through ZIMRA’s revenue collection and trade facilitation efforts,” he said.
Ncube said Chirundu was the first One-Stop Border Post in Southern Africa, and has therefore hosted a number of countries who have come to benchmark in their development of similar projects in the region.
