 |
| EU delegation at Port |
The European Union's ambassadors to Tanzania have been pleased by the
performance of the port of Dar es Salaam in the last one year, though there is
room for further improvement.
The delegation proposed last year six areas of improvement especially
on efficiency. Most of their suggestions have been met by Tanzania Port
Authority (TPA).
The EU Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi, said
that they were pleased also by the Ministry of Transport readiness to receive
their opinions and set good working relations regularly.
"We recommended measures taken to achieve these goals in the last
one year since our visit at the port," Mr Sebregondi said after touring
the port adding, "especially on maritime security and safety."
The ambassador who was leading 23 delegation of EU country ambassadors
and business representatives during the tour, said that they proposed a regular
dialogue between TPA, EU and the Ministry to devise means of increasing
efficiency at all ports in the country.
Mr Sebregondi said the country needs a low cost means of transport to
ease inflationary pressure on goods and services which was a good pre-condition
for development.
"Despite good efficiency figures given by the port
authority, still shipping cost (to Dar) is 25 per cent higher than the rest of
Sub-Sahara Africa," the ambassador said, attributing his remark on a
recent study by the World Bank which is yet to be made official.
He said that if Dar es Salaam port was compared to others in the rest
of the world, shipping cost stand at 150 per cent, a rate he said that needs to
be revised since traffic to Dar es Salaam is expected to increase by 240 per
cent in the next 15 years.
The Minister for Transport, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, said that his
ministry welcomed all criticisms and challenges because all is aimed at
improving the country's ports operations.
"But the report Mr (EU)
ambassador refers to is based on what happened up to April, (this year). Some
of the items have been overtaken by the measures we have implemented," Dr
Mwakyembe said.
The minister, however, assured the delegation to work closely as the
way of improving the efficiency of all ports in the country. He said: When you
visit this port next year I am sure you will be very pleased."
TPA's Acting Deputy Director General, Clemence Kiloyavaha, said that
the port had synchronized the working hours for different port stakeholders who
are now working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"Yard density at the main container terminal has improved from an
average of 62 per cent in 2011 to 52 per cent by October, this year, reflecting
a no terminal congestion situation," Mr Kiloyavaha, who represented the
Acting DG, said.
Other improvements in the last one year include overall ships'
turnaround time that has been reduced from an average of 7.3 days last year to
6.4 days per ship by October. Land and transit containers dwell time has been
cut from 11.5 days to 9.7 days and 17.1 days to 14.4 days respectively.
Stevedoring operations have improved from 415 tonnes per gang shift
last year to 446 per gang shift by last month, while cars offloading also
improved per shift from 210 units to 497 units during the same period.
Maersk Line Country Sales Manager, Tony Makani, said they were facing a
number of challenges including waiting for berthing that runs for 14 days which
is enough time to sail from Middle East to East Africa. "It's no longer
possible to operate efficiently due to delays.
We would like to know the government stance on the construction of
berth 13 and 14 that has been on plans in the last three years," Mr Makani
asked the minister. The minister assured them that the government would next
month make its stand on a number of challenges facing the port, including
tender for extension of the port.
Source: The Daily News,http://dailynews.co.tz, reported by Abduel Elinaza in Dar es Salaam
0 comments :
Post a Comment