Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan’s directives to heighten Tanzania-Burundi trade ties have started to materialize, as Burundi has acquired 10-hectare land within the Kwala Dry Port area to set up facilities for fast-tracking handling of its in-transit cargo.
The facilities include cargo sheds in which Burundian consignment through the Dar es Salaam Port will be stored while documentations are made before being transported.
When in Burundi last July, President Samia instructed the Ministry of Works and Transport to allocate space within the dry ports, specifically for handling Burundian cargo to facilitate their movement.
The Kwala Dry Port, located in Kibaha District, Coast Region, is a strategic project which is meant to decongest the Dar es Salaam Port, as well as easing the city roads from serving trucks carrying heavy cargo from the port.
The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) acquired a total of 500 hectares of land from the Kwala ward as area for the dry port project.
Burundi’s Ambassador to Tanzania, Gervais Abayeho, yesterday expressed his government’s appreciation, following Tanzania’s decision to offer the land to Burundi.
He made the statement during his meeting with the Minister for Works and Transport, Dr Leonard Chamuriho, in the capital city, Dodoma.
Ambassador Abayeho noted that the given land would help Burundian traders store their consignments before they are transported to Burundi, thus relieving them from storage costs they currently incur.
“Let me take this opportunity to thank the Tanzanian government for offering the land to us to construct a cargo depot facility. We believe that it will be a saviour to our importers,” he said.
On his part, Minister Chamuriho assured the Ambassador of the government’s commitment to facilitate transportation of cargo shipped through Dar es Salaam Port to Burundi.
Dr Chamuriho elaborated that currently, the port was undergoing major improvements and it has improved efficiency of cargo handling. Commenting, Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Gabriel Migire, said the Ambassador and his delegation have also signed with their Tanzanian counterparts an initial agreement for handing over of the land.
On his part, Tanzania’s Ambassador to Burundi, Dr Jilly Maleko, said the area will increase the rate at which Burundian traders use the Dar es Salaam Port.
The Burundian delegation had the opportunity to visit various development projects implemented by the ministry, including the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
The government is credited for developing mega infrastructure projects to exploit the potential for growth and make Tanzania a leading regional trade and logistics hub. Major expansions have been ongoing at the ports of Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Tanga ports to the tune of a whopping 2.2tri/-.
The expansion of the Dar es Salaam port alone would cost 1tri/-, while that of Tanga and Mtwara ports would cost 1.2tri/-.
The major purpose of investing in the expansion, upgrading and construction of new ports is to exploit the advantage brought about by the country’s geographical position and its rich endowment in natural resources, including water bodies.
The financial investment on Dar es Salaam Port has improved its performance and helped to attract more shippers.
Through Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP), TPA threw its weight into the construction and improvement of eight berths, including Roll-on Roll-Off (Ro-Ro), which is sometimes known as Berth Zero.
The completion of the Ro- Ro terminal has raised vehicle offloading capacity at the port from 163,000 to 600,000 cars annually.
Reports also show cargo volume handled by the principal port are surging.
According to the Consolidated Zonal Economic Performance Report issued at the end of last year by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) for the quarter that ended March, last year, the volume of cargo handled at the Dar es Salaam port grew by 2.3 per cent to 3 .9 million tonnes compared to 3.8 million tonnes registered in the corresponding quarter in 2018.
