Bunge for effective Dar port

The parliamentary Budget Monitoring Committee yesterday said it would seek effective strategies and plans by the government to strengthen business at the Dar es Salaam Port.

Briefing journalists, the committee chairman, Mr Andrew Chenge, said there were signs that the port was likely to lose its customers in the region following the growing competition from other countries.

Mr Chenge, who is Bariadi West MP, was speaking after his committee had met with leaders of the Tanzania Truck Owners Association (Tatoa).

He said the competition was endangering the country’s economic growth and that his committee was looking forward to push the government to work on the matter.

“We are going to ask the government on the plans and strategies it has in place to curb the situation, there must be friendly environments to allow traders to use our port,” he said.

He added that the government must set good strategies that will enable it to compete in the east Africa free market.

He said, Totoa members had identified various problems that lead to the decrease of business flow at the port and that it was high time respective ministries stand firmly to address them.

He identified some of challenges as traffic barriers, weighbridge disturbances and poor infrastructure.

He added that corruption among police officers and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) bureaucracy was another problem that hinders the growth of port business in the country.

According to Mr Chenge, his committee has received information that traders in Rwanda and Uganda will withdraw from shipping in cargoes through Dar es Salam port effective from September 1, this year.

“We should learn from our neighbour Mozambique… the fast expansion at Beira Port is threatening our port,” he noted.

Tatoa secretary general, Mr Zacharia Hanspope, told journalists that there were a number of issues that had been affecting their operations for several years and that Tatoa would like to have them solved.

He urged the government to reduce road license, and customs duty so as to attract more traders to Dar es Salaam port.He urged the government to reduce road license, and customs duty so as to attract more traders to Dar es Salaam port.
Source: The Citizen, reported by  Elisha Magolanga from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

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