This follows a review of the contract
between the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and TICTS which operates
container terminals at berth eight to eleven at the country’s major
transport gateway.
The rental fees will as well attract 3.8
per cent increment per annum. During a visit at the port in September
last year, President John Magufuli directed responsible authorities to
review the contract to create a win-win situation between the government
of Tanzania and the container terminal operators.
Through the new agreement which was
inked in Dar es Salaam yesterday, TICTS will pay $20 (about 44,000/-)
per container from $13 (about 28,600/-), which will be subjected to an
annual increase of four per cent.
TICTS has also been directestorage area
it has been operating as an inland container depot at Ubungo in Dar es
Salaam; in the new agreement the company has as well been tasked to
ensure an increase of cargo by 6.5 per cent each year.
The signing of the agreements was
witnessed by the Minister of Works, Transport and Communications, Prof
Makame Mbarawa and the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs,
Prof Palamagamba Kabudi.
The deal was reached after seven months
of discussions between officials of TICTS and a Government Negotiating
Team under the leadership of Mr Hamza Johari, the Director General of
Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA).
TICTS entered into a ten-year contract
with TPA in the year 2000 to operate container terminals at berth eight
to eleven but the agreement was controversially extended before expiry
in 2005 to additional 15 years, meaning that the initial agreement was
to expire in 2025.
According to Prof Mbarawa, the new
contract will be subjected to review and renewal after every five years
with Prof Kabudi warning that days were over for exploitative contracts.
TPA Board Chairman Prof. Ignas
Rubaratuka signed the documents on behalf of government of Tanzania
while TICTS was represented by the Managing Director of Hutchison Port
Holdings Limited for Middle East and Africa, Mr Andy Tsoi.
Prof. Kabudi stressed further that the
government was out to review all exploitative contracts in the country
following the recent endorsement by the National Assembly on three
legislations aimed at protecting the country’s natural wealth.
“It is good that the TICTS contract has
been reviewed before President Magufuli assents the three legislations,”
Prof Kabudi, who was initially a member of the negotiating team for the
TICTS contract before being appointed a legislator and eventually a
cabinet minister, remarked.d to give back to TPA
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