As congestion slowly builds up at Dar
es Salaam port ahead of the end of year festive season, Tanzania Ports
Authority (TPA) has gone on the offensive.
TPA Director General Madeni Kipande told
‘Daily News’ that he was travelling to Tanga on a mission to address
shipping lines concerns.
Last Sunday, Kipande had offered to
explain reports that shipping liners have boycotted TPA container
terminal at the port because of inefficiency and a possible go-slow
among workers resisting Transport Minister, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe’s
ongoing sweeping management changes.
Stakeholders told ‘Daily News’ last week
that cargo handling business at the country’s prime port is quickly
becoming a Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS)
exclusive because TPA container terminal is abandoned.
Until last June, TPA container terminal
used to handle over 30 per cent of containerized cargo at Dar es Salaam
port.
“The situation is not good because there is inefficiency at TPA
terminal hence many shipping agents are opting for TICTS terminal,” an
industrial source said.
The source said at TPA terminal ships
are taking up to 10 days to load and offload containers while carefree
employees failed even to respond to emails from frustrated clients who
are forced to choose TICTS terminal.
Sources said last Monday, Port
Improvement Committee (PIC) Chairman, Omari Chambo convened a
stakeholders’ meeting to convince shipping agents to use TPA terminal
threatening ship owners with revoking their licences.
“They ordered TASAA leaders to inform
ship owners to resume utilizing TPA berth but they told the Permanent
Secretary at Ministry of Transport that the association has no such
mandate in a free market economy,” said the source who warned that dwell
time is already above 14 days.
“Most ship owners are now talking about
boycotting the port because of these threats which are unrealistic
because we are in a free market economy where competitiveness is the
incentive,” argued, an official, from Container Depot Association of
Tanzania.
But Deputy Minister for Transport Dr
Charles Tizeba told the ‘Daily News’ that “it does not matter” whether
the ship off load a container at either TPA or TICTS since the entire
port is the property of TPA.
“At the end of the day the port
authority will receives its revenue either from TICTS or TPA own
facilities…nothing is lost,” Dr Tizeba said, adding that TICTS has a
contractual agreement with TPA and government. The minister said he does
not see the loss of revenue, the confusion nor the sabotage.
He added that since TPA’s berths one to
seven have shallow water thus limiting bigger ships to anchor and
naturally would discharge their containers at berths 8-12 which are
served by TICTS.
The majority of the inland container depots are said to
be getting empty because TICTS is unable to feed them with containers
as most of them used to receive such cargo from TPA terminal.
“The situation is bad, the government
needs to find an urgent solution to TPA leadership as soon as possible,
it will take the new board months before a solution to the current
crisis can be found,” another source from Tanzania Freight Forwarders
Association (TAFFA).
Stakeholders are also concerned by the
composition of TPA’s new board and acting Director General’s knowledge
of the port saying much of the inefficiency comes from activist
decisions which ignore the reality on the ground.
“Dar es Salaam port is
a cash cow of the government and its efficiency is not only dependent
on TPA or TASAA but all stakeholders,” the TAFFA member who attended
last Monday’s meeting said.
Last fortnight, Dr Mwakyembe dismissed
the entire TPA board except the chairman who is a presidential
appointee.
The minister named eight new board members as part of his
efforts to improve TPA performance. They include Dr Jabiri Kuwe Bakari,
John Ulanga, Caroline Temu, Jaffer Machano, Dr Hildebrand Shayo, Said
Sauko, Engineer Julius Mamiro and Asha Nassor.
Source: The Daily News, http://www.dailynews.co.tz
0 comments :
Post a Comment