Govt keen on Dar port expansion programme

THE government through the Ministry of Transport has allocated land that will be used as a dry port to serve land-locked countries using Dar es Salaam port.

The decision to allocate 160 hectares of land along Mandela Expressway in Dar es Salaam aims at increasing efficiency of the port.

The Minister for Transport, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, revealed this over the weekend when talking in a meeting to finalise the tour of a delegation of government and business representatives from the Province of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The delegation led by Katanga Province Vice Governor, Mr Guibert Tshibal and its Transport Minister, Mr Laurent Kahozi Sumba was on a five-day tour in the country as a way of strengthening bilateral trade relations between Tanzania and DR Congo.

Dr Mwakyembe told journalists that part of that land has been apportioned for DRC business community. “We are doing this as part of strengthening our port and business relations with our neighbours,” he said.

DRC is the second largest transit user of the port of Dar es Salaam accounting for 25 per cent of the total transit traffic. DRC traffic has been increasing at an average of 24 per cent per annum since 2004 from 155,611 tons and reached 1,117,249 tonnes in 2013.

While in the country the DRC delegation visited the designated area and the port of Dar es Salaam among other places. The Minister explained that the joint technical committee formed by members between the two countries has agreed to deal with all barriers hampering business between them.

On his part, Mr Kahozi Sumba hailed the government for taking measures to improve services at the port. “We will increase traffic through this port,” he said.

He said that since the port is the main gateway for DRC, its improvement means a lot to the people of his Province and DRC at large.

The Acting Director General of Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), Eng. Madeni Kipande noted that the two parties agreed to have a list of recommended clearing and forwarding companies in each country so as to avoid theft and other unnecessary problems.

“Having the list of trustworthy companies will help running the business smoothly for the benefit of all countries,” he said. Also agreed was to establish a dry port at Kasumbalesa, at the DRC-Zambia border to solve congestion problem and ease transportation of goods.

Mr Tshibal hailed Dr Mwakyembe and the government at large for efforts to revamp transport sector in Tanzania. “Dr Mwakyembe is a treasure for Tanzania...he is a man of action,” the Vice Governor said.

He noted that they will honour and work on all agreed matters for the benefit of all countries and business development.

The DRC delegation tour follows the one by their counterparts in Tanzania who visited Katanga Province in early May this year where a TPA liaison office was opened in Lubumbashi town.