MPs Abort Anti-Ticts Motion
The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
NEWS
22 April 2008
Posted to the web 22 April 2008
Dodoma
Legislators who were planning to table a private motion against the renewal of the embattled Tanzania International Containers Terminal Services (Ticts) contract have suspended their move under unclear circumstances.
But a reliable source within Ticts told The Citizen that the troubled firm had sought audience with the lawmakers to 'explain the real situation on the ground' that was resulting in persistent congestion at the Dar es Salaam port.
According to the source, Ticts management organised a marathon seminar to narrate the story 'from their own perspective'.
"All the MPs who had planned to table the motion had one-sided information, but after giving them the inside information on the real situation they decided to withdraw their motion," said a senior Ticts official, preferring anonymity.
Parliament had been expected to debate the Ticts issue, with some MPs demanding that the contract be terminated immediately since the company had no capacity to handle the increasing volumes of containers at the port.
Ticts officials have, however, defended their company saying the number of containers exported and imported through the Dar port was currently bigger than the available infrastructure, which had nothing to do with the company.
According to Ticts, the port was originally designed to handle only 250,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers per year, but the number is now fast approaching 400,000.
By the end of last year, the port recorded a total of 343,000 containers, surpassing its handling capacity by 37 percent, according to statistics released by Ticts on Friday.
And the company projects that in 2010, the total number of containers handled by Dar port would reach 525,000, two times its yearly capacity.
The port is currently reeling in deep congestion problems resulting partly from increased cargo over the last few years. The great lakes region, which is mostly served by the Dar port, has of late been experiencing relatively high economic growth and political stability, two factors that have seen increased cargo.
Analysts also say the rising foreign direct investment (FDI) flow in minerals- rich DR Congo and the booming copper production in Zambia are among the factors behind the rising volume of containers.
This year alone, for instance, Zambia has said it would export about 1million tonnes of copper through the Dar port.
Other landlocked countries like Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda have also lately opted using the strategically located Dar port, instead of Beira, Durban and Mombassa ports, due its modern equipment.
Ticts officials say the port has become a viable location to facilitate booming regional transshipment traffic, which has grown by 2500 percent to 56,249 from only 2,194.
However, despite these factors, stakeholders believe Ticts is largely to blame for the congestion. And a few days ago some MPs said they wanted its contract terminated.
Some people have also blamed port officials for delaying clearing processes through poor documentation of import and export declaration forms.
Others say congestion is worsened by the poor road infrastructure used to transport the containers to their respective destinations.