Michuki orders destruction of cargo

Cargo worth hundreds of millions of shillings is set for destruction at the port of Mombasa.

Some 740 vehicles and 7,000 containers of goods that have been lying at the port, some of them for up to ten years, will be destroyed to create space, acting Finance minister John Michuki, ordered on Wednesday.

The minister warned that the destruction should strictly take place at the port area. He returns to the port on November 10 to make sure this and a raft of other orders have been followed.

Clearing and forwarding agents were banned from entering the port area and tax officials told to wear uniforms to reduce incidences of corruption at the port.

The National Environment Management Authority has also been directed to advise on the procedure to be followed when some 1,000 containers containing toxic and hazardous goods are destroyed.

Mr Michuki is leading a powerful State delegation seeking to decongest the port which serves the Great Lakes region. The delegation, which arrived in the city on Monday evening, includes Kenya Revenue Authority chief Michael Waweru, Attorney-General Amos Wako, Transport assistant minister Harun Mwau, Treasury PS Joseph and a retinue of other officials.

Conspicuous

Conspicuously missing in the intense two-day consultations was Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) top dogs. After a meeting with port stakeholders on Tuesday, Mr Michuki said he had established that the Kebs had not complied with a presidential directive that the port operates on a 24-hour basis.

“I have written a letter to the Minister for Industrialisation to order Kebs to comply,” he said while addressing stakeholders on Wednesday. “I have also written to the Internal Security minister asking that security between the port and Changamwe roundabout be enhanced,” he added.

He announced the Government would release Sh1.5 billion to the Kenya Ports Authority to buy equipment as lack of sufficient cranes was cited as a factor in the slow movement of containers from one point to another. The vehicles, the minister said, would be crushed and sold as scrap metal. Some of the vehicles have been vandalized and others suffered corrosion as a result of exposure to the elements.

Transit vehicles that do not have proper documents will also suffer the same fate, the minister said. However, the minister ordered that Ugandan goods be cleared immediately following a request from the country’s representative at the meeting.

“We have no choice because we have to create space. If a transit vehicle has documents bring them and we shall release your vehicle tomorrow,” he said.

Following complaints by clearing agents and shippers that the procedure of lodging and processing of documents was too long, the minister said KPA and the Kenya Revenue Authority would harmonise their computerised systems and procedures, which would reduce cargo stay at the port by three to four days.

Mr Waweru said partial release of goods from the port, where in the past importers were not allowed to move cargo while part of the consignment was being held, would now be allowed.

He challenged importers to be honest in business, pointing out that they had failed to live to the test of qualifying for authorisation of economic operators that allowed an importer to collect goods without going through rigorous customs procedures.

Mr Michuki, in apparent reference to those clamouring for a coastal CEO at the port warned that the facility was not a “village project”.

Additional reporting by MUNA WAHOME