Inefficiency Blamed On Dar Es Salaam Port

Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)

John Kulekana

31 March 2011

THE Dar es Salaam Port is losing business due to delay in clearance of cargo destined to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia, due to what was described as “inefficiency.”

“Some importers in DRC and Zambia have reportedly turned their backs to the Dar es Salaam Port in favour of Namibia’s Walvis Bay,” Executive Member of the Tanzania Truck Owners’ Association (TATOA), Mr Fulgence Bube, said in Dar es Salaam on Thursday.

He told the Parliamentary Finance and Economic Affairs Committee that the Tanzanian port might continue losing business unless it significantly cuts down dwell time in clearance of goods.

Dwell time is a period cargo remains at the port in-transit storage area while awaiting shipment by clearance transportation. Mr Bube said dwell time at the Dar es Salaam Port is between two and four weeks and between six and nine days at Mombasa, Kenya, but only three days at Walvis Bay.

“At such a level of inefficiency, some importers in Lusaka and Lubumbashi have opted to route their cargo via the Walvis Bay Port. “Walvis Bay is 3,500kms from Lubumbashi, a distance that is 1,500kms longer compared to Dar es Salaam, but truck drivers spend hardly a week before delivering consignments to importers.

“In Dar es Salaam, importers in DRC are forced to wait for up to three weeks before delivery,” he explained to the committee. He listed other challenges to transporters as fuel adulteration and road blocks.

Mr Bupe said there were about 50 road blocks between Dar es Salaam and the Rwandan border. “This is a serious problem and incentive to corrupt practices on part of those manning the road blocks,” he added.

The Chairman of the Committee, Dr Abdallah Kigoda, commended TATOA for its good work, stressing that road transport was crucial to the country’s economy. Dr Kigoda said almost 60 per cent of transit cargo through the country was handled by trucks through the roads.

He, however, expressed concern over increased road accidents involving trucks, saying the rate was now alarming.

AllAfrica – All the Time