Dock union opposes privatisation plan

The Dock Workers Union has opposed privatisation of the second container terminal as proposed by the ministry of Transport.

The giant DWU instead suggested that concession is a better option as total privatisation of ports across the globe has not resulted in improved performance.

The union’s Secretary-General Simon Sang said in a statement said that the port of Tema in Ghana with a throughput of 500,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) and the port of Dar es Salaam with 600,000 were privatised in 2004 and 2007, respectively, but todate, there is nothing to be proud of.

He said the best performing port in Africa, Durban, the port of Dubai that is top in the Middle East and the port of Singapore that is sixth in the world are not privatised.

Mr Sang said yesterday that the best performing ports adopted a policy of commercialisation and making departments autonomous then placing them under professional management.

“The union views commercialisation and autonomy as the game changers,” he said.

Mr Sang said they would negotiate with the State to shelve plans to hand over operations of the second container terminal to a Japan International Corporation Agency as advertised last year.

The firm, he said, should be allowed to operate at the terminal in form of transshipment business only.

“The union through the ministry is in talks with Treasury to compel Kenya Revenue Authority to allow transshipment if port business is to grow by over 500,000 TEUs.

“This means that our support for anticipated concessioner is on condition that it generates its own business through transshipment business,” the statement said.

Mr Sang said if the union’s proposal is approved, Kenya would make major strides in port performance.

The official said that in other countries, ports had grown because of transshipment business and gave the example of the port of Singapore which handles up to 17 million TEUs with transshipment business accounting for 80 per cent.

Mr Sang said that other ports with similar arrangements are Salala and Jebel Ali in Dubai.

“Kenya is blessed to be strategically positioned and if allowed to handle transshipment business, it could grow its business in the next 12 months to the tune of 1.5 million TEUs, which is a 50 per cent growth,” the union boss said.

He said that although privatisation would result in “some little economic catalyst”, detaching the port management from political intervention and placing it in the hands of professionals to run it using commercial principles is the way forward.

“KPA management believes that it can only be salvaged or resuscitated through privatisation,” Mr Tanui said.