The proposed Chai Logistics Centre is a major step in the push by the government to divert cargo to the standard gauge railway.
Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) will build a logistics centre in Nairobi, taking a major step in the push by the government to divert cargo to the standard gauge railway and put the expanded Nairobi Inland Container Depot to maximum use after expansion.
On March 8, it called for bids from firms interested in the multi-million shilling works. It will be called Chai Logistics Centre.
Upon completion of the logistics hub, tea consignments for exports from smallholder farmers will be delivered to the Kenya Ports Authority’s (KPA’s) Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Nairobi.
KTDA group chief executive Lerionka Tiampati said Tuesday the firm owns land next to the Nairobi ICD, making it easier to build the warehouse next to SGR cargo terminal. It will save costs, he said without giving details of the works.
“Logistics is coming upcountry (from Mombasa) due to SGR. In future it could be that instead of taking things to Mombasa, you just do it from Nairobi, and we have a plot just next to ICD,” Mr Tiampati said in an interview.
KTDA said it was looking for firms experienced in building and civil, plumbing and drainage, structural steel works and claddings and electrical installation.
The expression of interest bids closed on Tuesday.
“We are exploring the possibility of what we need to do based on the new development (related to SGR operations),” the KDTA boss said.
The agency handles about 60 per cent of all tea exports at the Mombasa Auction. Last year, the country exported about 417 million kilos of tea.
There have been a lot of movements around the SGR and expansions of related installations like the Nairobi ICD, including the push by the government to ensure the mega investments are put to right use.
Logistics experts have give the government’s push a thumbs-up, saying increased activity will ensure the SGR is repaid and it is expanded to other regions.
The Transport ministry in February directed that cargo coming in through the port of Mombasa and, destined to Nairobi and beyond, be transported via the SGR to the ICD in Embakasi where importers will collect them.
The State order does not, however, apply to cargo for export through the Mombasa port.
The cost of the KTDA project and the implementation timeframe will be known after the EOI stage, Mr Tiampati said, declining to disclose the tentative cost and timetable that the agency was looking at.
“We have not reached that point yet. Once the expression of interest comes and we go to tender, we will know the cost. It is still at a very preliminary stage. We don’t have that kind of information as yet. It is still a concept stage.”
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