Africa-Press – Tanzania. MTWARA: CONSTRUCTION of a new port berth to handle dirty cargo at the Kisiwa Mgao area in the outskirts of Mtwara Region is set to start before June this year, Minister for Transport, Professor Makame Mbarawa has said.
The Minister made the revelation when he paid a visit at the construction site last week. He said the new port berth will serve as a special terminal to handle dirty cargo that will include coal, cement and fertilisers.
“Construction of the port will start before June this. At the moment we are finalising the process of acquiring a contractor who will do the construction work,” he said.
Prof Mbarawa said the contractor to be acquired will start by constructing a 300-meter-long berth to accommodate different vessels.
“The berth will have the capacity to handle all types of ship,” has said adding that two or more berths will be constructed later to accommodate and handle cargo. The minister directed the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to pick enough land at Kisiwa Mgao that would be used to construct the berths.
In another development, the minister said the construction of the port will go in line with construction of a ten-meter-long road from the warehouses to the port construction area.
Presenting work report on Mtwara Port to the minister, Mtwara Port Manager Mr Fernand Nyath said the port of Mtwara is currently recording a significant growth in the volume of shipments from coal, cement and other goods exports passing through Mtwara.
The report indicates that in the fiscal year 2022/2023 it planned to handle 402,200 tonnes of cargo but handled 1,628,615 tonnes surpassing the targets.
According to the manager, the good record was due to ongoing positive developments in the coal exports through the port, cement and container transshipment project conducted at the port.
According to the report, the southern port which ranks second after Dar es Salaam, shipped 625,286 tonnes of coal during the period between July 2023 and January 2024.
The port also handled 115,491 tonnes of cement between July 2023 and January 2024. Ruvuma Coal Limited and Jitegemee Holdings Company are the major entities conducting coal business into Mtwara port exporting their coal consignments to various overseas destinations.
On the other hand, Dangote Cemetery Plant conducts cement business through Mtwara Port. Coal mined in the country is often exported to India, Egypt, Senegal, Poland, Zanzibar, Ghana, Kenya, Netherlands, DRC and France.
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