Insufficient parking space and poor coordination between transporters, clearing agents and operators of Container Freight Stations (CFS) are leading to serious delays at the CFSs.
Kenya Transporters Association CEO Eunice Mwanyalo called for the licensing of CFSs to consider the availability of parking spaces for trucks to reduce congestion. Currently, truckers are parking along the highway, risking huge fines.
The Ministry of Roads has written to CFS operators and transporters on the illegal parking at the Changamwe roundabout and on Magongo roads.
In a letter addressed to 18 CFS operators and transporters, engineer Omondi warned that the law enforcers would be charging them for illegal parking.
Parking woes and poor cargo handing equipment have led to accusations that CFS are slow in clearing cargoes. The transporters have requested local authorities and the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to allocate space for parking when licensing CFSs in the future.
CFSs are licensed by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) but KPA ascertains whether they have sufficient equipment to handle cargoes, Mr Hajj Masemo, an officer in charge of public relations at the Mombasa port, said.
The cost of doing business through the CFSs is higher than that of doing it directly through the port, Ms Mwanyalo said.
According to Mr Masemo, the port has resolved that all domestic cargoes will be cleared through the CFSs. The port will only handle transit goods, which constitutes 30 per cent of total cargo volumes.
This means that Kenyans will bear the brunt of inefficiencies at the CFSs and thus pay for most of the related costs passed on by the shippers. According to Mr Masemo, KPA has allowed six out of 14 licensed CFSs to operate.
The rest have been licensed by the KRA without the KPA approval. Lack of cargo handling equipment is another a big problem affecting transporters using CFS, Ms Mwanyalo said.
Only two CFSs, which she declined to name, have adequate cargo handling equipment. "Over 80 per cent of the CFS operators do have insufficient cargo handling equipment," she said.
"When using CFSs to clear domestic cargoes, shippers clear cargoes promptly since it is hard to lobby for the waiver of the storage charges accumulated due to delays at the port,"Mr Masemo said. Since CFSs are driven by profit, it is difficult to negotiate for waivers, which therefore leads to prompt cargo clearance.
