Minister defends envisaged shipping corporation

KATARE MBASHIRU in Dodoma

WORKS, Transport and Communication Minister Professor Makame Mbarawa came out strongly yesterday, defending the envisaged National Shipping Agencies Act, 2017 as the best strategy to regulate the country’s maritime industry.

He assured that there is no ill-intention behind the proposed establishment of the National Shipping Agencies Corporation (NASAC).

The minister said the bill, which has so far elicited mixed reactions from various stakeholders in the shipping sub-sector, was the best strategy to fully regulate maritime affairs and activities in the country. He said the regulatory body will help the country to maximise economic benefits accrued from the industry.

The minister was speaking just a day after stakeholders in the shipping industry met here to air their views before the parliamentary committee on infrastructure.

Almost all stakeholders embraced the bill but were opposed to NASAC establishment, arguing that under the law, the agency is an operator and regulator, with possibility of creating conflict of interest.

NASAC, the bill provides, is a public corporation and business organisation that will at the same time be vested with powers to “regulate the Maritime Transport Sector in Tanzania.”

Stakeholders instead proposed the establishment of the Tanzania Maritime Authority (TMA) that will have full mandate to regulate all shipping agents, including the state owned.

At a news conference in Dar es Salaam, the Maritime Law Association of Tanzania (MLAT) Chairman, Professor Costa Mahalu requested the government to review the bill to accommodate TMA as regulator of maritime affairs and activities in the country.

But, Professor Mbarawa said the government has received stakeholders’ views, promising to work on them. He was however quick to allay fears on the establishment of NASAC as operator and regulator, saying it was common practice in many countries, globally.

“Even in Tanzania, it’s not the first time because we have the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), which operates as a regulator and operator at the same time and there is no any conflict of interest at all,’’ he told the ‘Daily News’ at the parliament grounds here yesterday.

At the committee meeting, Prof Mbarawa was asked by the Chairman, Professor Norman Sigalla to explain why the government was opting for NASAC, snubbing the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) which has been discharging the same duties for a long time.

In his response, the minister said the move aims at increasing efficiency in the marine business.

In an interview with the ‘Daily News,’ Prof Mbarawa said the government equally intends to amend SUMATRA legislation, giving the regulatory body another name to regulate only surface transport, which equally needs extensive supervision.

He asked all stakeholders to receive the government proposals positively to increase efficiency and service delivery that will in turn boost the government’s economy