EARLY next month no lorry will be allowed to enter the point of Dar es Salaam if an agent has not finalised the clearing documents, the port CEO has declared.
TPA director general, Eric Khamis said yesterday that vehicles with documents will be allowed into the port area and those with incomplete documents “will be told to clear their documents first.”
This affirmation was given in the presence of Works and Transport minister Prof Makame Mbarawa who directed the port authorities to operate strategically and increase the number of staff involved in cargo handling to promote efficiency.
The director expressed appreciation to the ministry for having innovated a vessels flow format to contain congestion within the port, by setting up checkpoints for port bound Lorries.
The minister was touring the major gateway to observe how the 24 hours operation to clear cargo was progressing, asking the Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS), the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to enhance communication between them for increased efficiency.
“This long queue can be reduced or ended if you all work together because the port is not a place to rest and stay idle,” he said, underlining that the government has taken various steps to reduce congestion at the port.
Fuel tankers have been allowed to pass the gate without checks, he pointed out, underlining that special check points for Lorries have been set up, in which case vehicles entering the port should have permits.
“This is not a place to spend three to four days. You must ensure that appropriate actions are taken against them as it is these permits that make people spend time here,” he asserted, hailing TPA for a job well done.
The director affirmed that the current speed in clearing cargo has helped to reduce vessel congestion and thus increasing revenue collection, noting that there were 18 vessels outside the port and 13 others inside the port, disembarking cargo.
Dar es Salaam port has a rated capacity of 4.1m tonnes of dry cargo and 6.0m (dwt) of bulk liquid cargo annually, with a total quay length of about 2,600 metres, and eleven deep-water berths.
The port handles about 95 per cent of the country’s international trade, also serving the landlocked countries of Malawi, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, a convenient freight linkage for the region to the Middle East, South Asia, the Far East as well as Europe, Australia and America.
