Development authority plans to open container station

Managing director Nesbert Mangale says they hope to raise their revenue base to Sh100 million annually from 2012 and the Kenya Ports Authority had given them the go-ahead.

Logistical arrangements

“We have been given the green light by the KPA and very soon we will start logistical arrangements for the project to supplement budgetary allocations from the treasury,” he said

Mbura said that all the necessary documentation from the KPA has been acquired but operational licenses will only be issued by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) once equipment is installed in the yard.

KPA embraced the concept of private freight stations in October 2007 to ease congestion when the port faced a threat of the punitive Vessel Delays Surcharge (VDS), which is slapped by shipping lines due to unusually long delays in processing.

Since then, KRA has licensed 13 CFSs, four of which are custom bonded facilities doing all cargo clearance on behalf of KPA and KRA.

According to the present practice, before a CFS is licensed by KRA, KPA has to assess its standards which include the availability of the facilities needed to handle the cargo.

The port managing director Mr James Mulewa said that the use of private CFS and the 24-hour port operations had helped ease congestion.

Before the port started using CFSs, the yard occupancy was always beyond the installed capacity of 14,500 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (Teus).

“We have adopted the CFS concept, where most cargo exits the port as soon as it lands to the privately-run CFSs,” explained Mulewa.

Container handling capacity has been a major challenge at the port, since the current container terminal, initially designed to handle 250,000 twenty foot equivalent units (Teus) handles over 600,000 teus.

According to KPA, container population at the port has been reduced from 14,300 teus last year to 6,000 containers.

“It allows us to plan our operations and to compete with other ports in the world in terms of moves per hour,” Mulewa said, adding that this was one of the reasons why the port posted a Sh5.3 billion pre-tax profit last year due to improved efficiency and good yard planning.

There has led to an increase in the volume of cargo handled , between January and June this year, the port handled 9.173 million tonnes compared to 8.04 million tonnes in the same period last year.

Apart from CFS, Dr Mangale said that CDA has also embarked on a campaign to beef up its technical capacity.

In order to fully exploit the potential in the region, he said technical staff in geology, planning, development coordinators and public communication will soon join the CDA to boost its technical capacity.

“For us to implement the planned programmes, there is need for strengthening our capacity in terms of staff training, acquisition of plant and equipment and to put in place appropriate human resource policies that will attract and retain staff.

“CDA has not done well in retention of skilled personnel in the face of the attractions of better remunerations in private and public sectors,” he said, adding that the emoluments will be reviewed and improved to enhance the quality of services being offered.

Dr Mangale, however, said they required additional funding from the treasury for the recurrent budget as they looked for avenues to generate revenue for the authority.

Area of jurisdiction

He said CDA’s area of jurisdiction is endowed with unique resources such as the ocean, marine, hot springs, coastal forests, mangroves and rich coastal culture.

However, over the years, the communities have been exploiting the resources without factoring in sustainable conservation, hence the need to carry out sensitisation programmes.

In its five-year strategic plan launched by the minister for regional development Fred Gumo, CDA has identified areas such as livestock purchasing, seedling production for cashew nuts, mangoes, citrus and coconuts for sale.