Sh31bn terminal at port of Mombasa to be ready in June

The new Sh30.9 billion terminal at Mombasa port will be ready for use from June next year, increasing container space by 450,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Chris Kiptoo, the TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) Kenya director, said the multi-donor agency will hand over the facility to the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) by mid next year.

In early September, High Court judge Louis Onguto had barred the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) committee from hearing an appeal against the disqualification of Danish logistics firm Maersk from the $300 million (Sh30.9 billion) tender.

“From what I gather, it should be ready by June 2016 but it is also safe to say that by end of 2016 that terminal should be fully operational,” said Dr Kiptoo.

He added that TMEA has injected Sh20 billion to support the expansion of an eight-lane highway from the Moi International Airport to Changamwe roundabout to Port Reitz Road to ease operations at the upcoming port.

Dr Kiptoo said they chose the Port Reitz area because it is yet to be operational and the contractor is already working.

“We agreed with the government to do the 6.4 kilometre road because it will help in evacuating cargo. We are looking at additional funds to do the road from Changamwe roundabout to gate 18. We have secured a distance of 1.2 kilometres,” he said.

Extra work from Kipevu Road to Magongo Road is set to start this financial year.

He noted that the works are being conducted outside the port to increase flow by reducing truck operating costs to facilitate efficient handling of cargo.

“We are going to roll out more expansion projects to boost road network west of the port which has been a big hindrance to port operations. We have done these expansions outside the port because we realised that improving the outer network cargo handling will be more efficient,” he said.

Yarding has also been done at the port, with Yard Five already handed over to the Kenya Ports Authority. The yard has an additional capacity of 2,700 TEUs, he said.

Efficiency will be improved to satisfy the current capacity of the port, the official said.

“Yard five took us a year to complete and hand it over to the KPA in December last year. With the current capacity of the port standing at around one million it is important that we balance capacity with efficiency.”

Dr Kiptoo said it was efficiency that would drive the push to attain shipping capacity and not creating “just a space where you store containers.”

The upgrading of gates 10 and 18 and the yard upgrade cost about $5 million (Sh500m), he said.