Performance of the Dar es Salaam Port is likely to go from bad to worse
unless immediate steps are taken to revive the Tazara and the central railway
line to speed up haulage of cargo to Tanzania’s hinterland and neighbouring
countries, stakeholders say.
The increase of trade as well as the ongoing port expansion plans could see it
surpassing its capacity in the near future, but the sluggish hauling of the
cargo to various destinations is one of the biggest threats to its competitiveness, transporters and experts
say.
The statistics further show that the general cargo terminal handled 3.4
million tonnes last year against the designed annual capacity of 3.1 million
tonnes, equivalent to 109.7 per cent capacity utilisation. Between January and
September this year, the terminal has already handled 3.5 million tonnes.
The oil terminal handled 3.7 million tonnes last year against the
annual capacity of 6 million tonnes (61.7 per cent). Between January and
September the terminal has handled 2.8 million tonnes.
But last week, a newly installed offshore single-point mooring (SPM)
started serving the port. The SPM and pipeline system, installed by an American
firm, Leighton Offshore, can accommodate vessels up to 150,000 dwt carrying
either crude oil or diesel. The first tanker used the facility last week.
The Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (Ticts) is
operating at 90 per cent capacity, while activities at the other container
terminal operated by TPA are increasing at the rate of 110 per cent annually.
Dar Port is a leading gateway for goods to and from landlocked
countries of East and Central Africa.
It is the most strategically located to serve Zambia, Malawi, DR Congo,
Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, but has often failed to fend off competition
from Mombasa Port, despite problems of
congestion and bureaucracy facing the Kenyan competitor.
But, according to TPA, Dar Port handles only about 30 per cent of the
total transit cargo traffic, while the rest go to competitors due to poor
railways infrastructure that connects the port to the hinterland.
Experts say Tanzania needs at least 2.4 billion US dollars (about 3.8tr/-)
to revamp the central railway line alone.
Relying on road transport is Tanzania’s undoing as far as
competitiveness in transit trade is concerned. This is because this type of
transport is overly expensive in the long run, subject to countless ‘non-trade
barriers’, all of which have contributed to skyrocketing cost of living.
A report released last week by Transparency International (TI)
indicates that Tanzanian transport companies each pay almost 13,000 US dollars (21m/-) a month in bribes as they move cargo from the Dar Port to various
destinations.
That is the highest bribe money transporters say they pay in East
Africa.
Those in Kenya say they pay an average of 6,715 US dollars a month each in bribes
to revenue authorities, police officers and customs officials, TI reveals.
Railways transport is cheaper and goods transported by trains are free
of police roadblocks and other non-trade barriers that road haulers are
subjected to, experts say.
TPA says the Tanzania Railway Limited (TRL) and the Tanzania Zambia
Railway (Tazara), the main railway lines connected to the Dar Port, handled only
1.7 per cent of the total cargo that passes at the facility from January to
September this year.
Between January and September, a total of 2,867,482 consignments of
cargo were cleared from the port in which 2,817,393 freights equivalent to 98.3
per cent was transported by roads and the remaining 50,089 consignments being
transported by railways.
“This size of cargo eats into the life span of the roads which in turn
forces the government to spend a lot of money on road repair while the same
money could have be used in other development projects,” said the ministry of
Transport director of policy and planning, Gabriel Midire recently.
The Tanzania Shipping Association Chairman Emmanuel Mallya told The
Citizen over the weekend that despite though the port has been increasing, the
railways and roads infrastructure connecting to the port have remained the same
as they were 20 years ago.
“Any business is about
competition, traders choose the most favorable port to use. So if Dar Port will
not overcome the challenges it faces, there is the probability of losing many
customers in the future.”
The TPA report indicates that the ship turnaround time has increased
from 3.1 days per ship in 2005 to 7.3 days. This problem is caused by poor
clearance, mainly as a result of poor infrastructure connecting to the port,
leading to more costs to shippers.
According to Mr Mallya, a ship pays 20,000 US dollars daily whenever it docks at
the port. “When the dwell time is higher
it means we are forced to spend a lot of money, which in turn traders seek on
how to compensate the extra cost … the consumer will be supposed to pay higher
for purchasing goods,” noted Mr Mallya.
The government says it cannot, on its own, improve the railways
transport system without the participation of the private sector, the deputy
minister for transport Charles Tibeza saida recently at the Third East and
Central Africa Roads and Rail Infrastructure Summit in the city.
Source: The Citizen, thecitizen.co.tz, reported in Dar es Salaam
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