Author: LYDIA SHEKIGHENDA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: INSTALLATION of modern scanners at Dar es Salaam Port is expected to fast track clearance of transit cargo, boost security and government revenue.
This was revealed in Dar es Salaam on Thursday by Commissioner of Petroleum and Gas in the Ministry of Energy Adam Zuberi after the Resource Mobilisation Committee from his ministry toured the project at the port.
The project is supervised by Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).
He said the installation of two scanners was among several projects implemented under Domestic Resource Mobilisation and Natural Resource Governance funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
“The committee is satisfied with the progress of the project because it has been so far implemented by more than 90 per cent. We are confident that the contractor will beat the deadline in September this year,” he said.
The commissioner said the installation of the new tech scanners at $5.5m (equivalent to 13bn/-) will not only speed up the clearance of transit cargo, but also increase government revenue.
“The scanners have the capacity of operating 200 containers at ago thus speeding up transit cargo clearance,” he said.
TPDC Managing Director, Dr James Mataragio, said the fixing of the two scanners had reached 51 per cent. It is expected that the project will be completed in September this year.
He noted that the project was crucial for the country because all transit cargo would be scanned to earn the government.
“The port has other scanners, but they are not enough. The new scanners will help speed up cargo clearance.”
Project Manager Asadi Mrutu said the Domestic Resource Mobilisation and Natural Resource Governance project would benefit nine institutions responsible for natural resource management.
He said the institutions included the Ministry of Energy, TPDC, the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura), Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) Mainland and Zanzibar, Zanzibar Revenue Board (ZRB), Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority (PURA) and others.
Mr Mrutu further said apart from speeding up cargo clearance it would boost the country’s security because through the scanners the government would know the type of goods on transit.
He, however, said other activities in progress through the project included looking into a possibility of transporting natural gas to Dodoma and how local bidders could be empowered to cope with mining and gas standards.
