Posted on June, 27, 2019 at 10:00 am
CENTRAL Corridor stakeholders have urged authorities at Dar es Salaam Port to reduce charges imposed on a single freight cargo container from the current U$450 each for imports compared to Mombasa’s U$275.
In the Central Corridor Transport Observatory Report for 2018, it stated that Dar Port also charges U$266 per container of exports compared to Mombasa’s U$223 which makes it more expensive hence less competitive.
“However it is quite cheaper importing and exporting through Dar es Salaam Port for the Central Corridor member states except for Uganda that is near Mombasa Port,” said Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA)’s Executive Secretary Captain Dieudonne Dukundane.
Capt Dukundane said Tanzania can expedite fully implementation of the re-opening of the multimodal route of Dar es Salaam to Mwanza to Port Bell in Uganda which will be a game changer for the landlocked country’s cargo transiting through Dar Port.
He said the Central Corridor’s leading port of Dar es Salaam needs to reduce its charges so that it can compete with the Northern Corridor’s Mombasa Port and other corridors in the East and Central Africa region.
According to the CCTO report, the Northern Corridor is the only route in East and Central Africa which is considered as a serious competitor of the Central Corridor as it also provides a gateway through Kenya to the landlocked economies of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DR Congo, as well as South Sudan.
The report asserts that marine vessels take up to three weeks in the outer anchorage of Dar es Salaam port while offloaded cargo ca stay up to two weeks before clearance thanks to delays in while if well organized takes only two days.
Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, Dr Leonard Chamuriho said shipping liners are hesitating to deliver cargo to Isaka Inland Container Depots (ICDs) located in Dodoma as the final destination of their clients’ cargo because of uncertainty of the charges to be accrued.
“I urge the corridor to find out and publish the cost that shipping liners will incur in delivering cargo to their clients to Isaka as the final port of discharging,” Dr Chamuliho advised.
He added, “With precise cost these ICDs shall be the final port of discharge for cargo destined to landlocked countries,” he noted.
On his side, Trade Mark East Africa’s Country Director for Tanzania, John Ulanga, said the corridor is a golden opportunity for Tanzania to exploit since it is surrounded by six landlocked countries.
“Tanzania has to take this opportunity to its maximum fullest hence interesting that the country is now investing heavily in infrastructure projects that are going to add more value to its competitiveness in the logistics sub sector,” Ulanga argued.
The corridor forms part of the backbone of the regional transportation system in East and Central Africa facilitating smooth import and export of the five landlocked countries with a combined population of more 120 million people.
Source: IPP Media