Kenya  Ports  Authority (KPA) acting Managing Director, Dr. Daniel Manduku says the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) freight operations have boosted cargo transportation and enhanced efficiency at the port of Mombasa.

Mombasa port remains the most connected in the region, with at least 33 shipping lines calling and providing direct connectivity to more than 80 ports worldwide.

The MD observed that the 472 km SGR line from Mombasa to Nairobi has helped lower conventional cargo and ship congestion, besides enhancing Mombasa’s image as a regional logistics hub.

Dr.Manduku said the SGR has helped decongest Mombasa port by hastening the offloading of cargo from ships for onward transportation to Nairobi and other hinterland destinations via the modern high-speed rail network.

“The movement of cargo by the modern rails has helped ease the cost of doing business in Mombasa and its environs,” he noted adding that it has also eased vehicular traffic on the port access roads.

Some 1, 300 containers arrive at the port daily with about 800 being loaded to the cargo trains bound for the Nairobi Inland Container Deport (ICD).

He  said  KPA ICD Nairobi  works 24 hours and they encourage clients to be clearing their cargo throughout even the weekends as all services are available round the clock.

He acknowledged that the SGR commercial services have affected the multi-billion shilling Container Freight Stations (CSFs) businesses in Mombasa.

He said KPA is aware that the SGR operations have not gone down well with CFS operators and transporters as they feared to be driven out of business by the trains.

The MD said the speed trains that started commercial operations in January 2018 have steadily been reducing cargo dwell time at the Kilindini habour.

“The CFSs were initially created to handle transit cargo, ease congestion and allow the port to handle more transshipment”, he reckoned.

“For us, SGR is improving cargo evacuation at the port, creating space at the hitherto congested container stacking yards and is speeding up trade along the northern corridor,” he said.

Dr. Manduku said the freight station operators in Mombasa could diversify their business and turn their storage yards into value addition or transshipment centres.

“CFS operators should diversify their logistic services to remain in business and create job opportunities for Kenyans instead of forever bemoaning the SGR operations,” he said.

He recalled CFSs started operations in Mombasa in 2007 to ease congestion at the Mombasa port, which saw ships charged demurrage fees for delayed cargo deliveries.

Since SGR freight services began hauling cargo, many CFS operators have been forced to relocate their logistics and transportation business to Nairobi.

Dr. Manduku says the SGR freight services between Mombasa and Nairobi has streamlined and fast tracked movement of cargo besides boosting value addition of Kenyan exports.

Addressing the press at the Pride inn Paradise Beach Hotel, Dr. Manduku said the SGR line is fully operational and that cargo delivery to various destinations has become a lot easier and faster.

The port MD stated that movement of goods by revamped rails would also help reduce freight costs and by extension reduce prices of commodities.

He said while cargo trucks took days to reach Nairobi, the fast moving freight trains were taking eight hours.

He noted the freight trains on the SGR line were able to haul 4, 000 tons of containerized cargo per trip and 22 million tons per annum.

He said most of the cargo handled at the port of Mombasa is destined for Nairobi and that it is uneconomical to move huge cargo volumes by road.

“Moving cargo by train will translate to less wear and tear on the tarmac roads and will significantly contribute to economic growth,” he said.

Meanwhile, the KPA MD said plans to construct the ambitious special economic zones in Dongo Kundu near the Mombasa port is closer to reality, following the completion of the feasibility study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

He said the Sh30 billion Dongo Kundu free port project is set to boost Kenya’s economy by opening up trade and bring about ‘unprecedented surge in logistics and business by 2022’.

Dr. Manduku said building of a 24 hour free trade zone would help open up the region for business besides creating employment for hordes of jobless youth.

Source Kenya News

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