Dar port starts to come under scrutiny as cargo volume falls

Dar es Salaam. A critical analysis to establish the reasons for a drop in cargo volume at the Dar es Salaam Port is underway, a top official has said.
But Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) director general Deusdedit Kakoko gave no figures or possible causes for the decline.  
Nonetheless, he said in 2014/15 fiscal year the ports collectively handled 15,979,693 tonnes of cargo compared with 15,427,830 tonnes  in 2013/14.
The ports handled 4.732 tonnes of cargo destined to neighbouring countries during the same period and the authority collected Sh679, 316.95 and spent Sh464, 653.32.
Meanwhile TPA is implementing 163 projects to raise the performance of ports and contributing immensely to economic development. According to Mr Kakoko, $690 million will be spent on Dar es Salaam Port projects.  
The money will be sourced through soft loans and grants. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will offer a $600-million-soft loan while the UK’s Department for International Development and Trade Mark East Africa will jointly offer a $30-million grant. The Tanzania government will contribute $60 million.
The money will be spent on 10 schemes which include increasing berth depth to 14 metres covering berth number 1 to 11; increasing the number of scanners from three to five; building a new berth at the Gerezani Creek and two more at number 13 and 14 locations, deepening to 14 metres the port’s gateway, installation of a conveyor system and silos, modernisation of railway network within the port, expansion of Bandari-Mivinjeni road and completion of one-stop centre building along Sokoine Drive.
Mr Kakoko told journalists here at the weekend that that TPA paid Sh80.1 billion to the government during the 2015/2016 financial year of which Sh40 billion was corporate tax; Sh37.4 billion was valued-added tax while Sh2.7 billion was withholding tax. It also paid Sh93 billion as dividend to the government after getting a revenue of Sh662 billion.
The Tanga Port will get an oil jetty and storage tanks, he said, adding that designs and a feasibility study on the Mwambani Port will be launched in the near future. The Mtwara Port will be modernised by building a multi-purpose terminal. Dangote Cement Company has been permitted to build its own berth at Kisiwa-Mgao.
 but must handle cement only.
The Lindi Port modernisation by Comfix and Engineering Limited is expected to be complete in the first quarter of next year.
Building of Sibwesa berth on Lake Tanganyika is projected to be completed in December this year. Works on Ntama and Lushamba berths continue, he said.
A new 200-passenger vessel to ply Lake Nyasa and two self-propelled cargo barges are being built at Kyela at a cost of Sh10.35 billion.  The project is due for completion in February next year.
BACKGROUND: DAR PORT UPGRADE
Last year, the World Bank (WB), the UK’s Department for International Development and TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) will inject a total of $596 million (about Sh1.1 trillion on the prevailing exchange rate) in the project that seeks to upgrade the Port of Dar es Salaam during the next few years. The money will go towards the deepening and strengthening of berths 1-7, the dredging of the entrance channel and turning basin in the port.