Cargo at SGR terminus in Mombasa on April 29, 2020. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NMG
Rwandan importers are pushing for talks to resolve a
longstanding problem of cargo that has overstayed at Tanzanian and
Kenyan ports, and now face imminent auction to clear charges and
penalties accrued due to delays attributed to the Covid-19.
The EastAfrican
has learnt that 2,064 containers that arrived between December and May
this year are stuck at the Dar es Salaam port, port of Mombasa and
Naivasha ICD due to delays in processing logistics and paperwork.
This
is in addition to introduction of new operational protocols governing
borders and the drivers’ strike at borders of Benaco and Malaba
respectively.
Importers say that while they had
successfully received respective governments’ extension of free
demurrage days from 14 days to 55 days, and nine days to 90 days for
Tanzania and Kenya respectively, nothing substantive has taken place to
resolve the matter.
The Rwanda Private Sector
Federation’s Chamber of Commerce and Services director Joseph Akumuntu
said the ports’ authorities, warehouse operators and revenue bodies
continued counting Customs warehouse rent, port storage fees, and
penalties thereof.
“Now the Tanzania International
Container Terminal Services has threatened to auction our containers,
notwithstanding several requests for the waiver, to which did not
receive feedback. We are requesting the government to engage their
Tanzanian and Kenyan counterparts to find a solution,” he said.
He added that accrued charges on some containers had grown way above the value of the stranded cargo.
Dar es Salaam port hosts a big number of the overstayed cargo with 2,000 containers while 64 are at Mombasa and Naivasha.
Dar es Salaam port hosts a big number of the overstayed cargo with 2,000 containers while 64 are at Mombasa and Naivasha.
Arrival
date for majority of them is February to May when effects of the
coronavirus pandemic took a toll on the transport logistics chain.
No comments :
Post a Comment