KPA records increased amount of cargo handled

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has registered an increase in tons of handled cargo by three per cent, the managing director said Saturday.

Announcing the port's performance for the January/October 2016 period, Ms Catherine Mturi-Wairi said the facility had handled 22,895,408 tons of cargo up from 22,224,369 in the same period last year.

“This reflects a favourable performance of 671,039 tons,” she said during stakeholders’ dinner at Serena Beach Resort.

She also said in the same period the port handled 903,307 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs) of containers against 896,717 TEUs in the same period last year.

In October this year the port handled 99,271 TEUs, an increase from 85,220 handled in the same month last year.

“This reflects a significant increase of 14,051 tons or 16.5 per cent. This is the highest monthly container traffic performance so far recorded in the port’s history,” she said.

She also announced that trans-shipment traffic increased from 450,472 tons recorded between January and October last year to 461,502 tons handled between the same period this year.

She added that the removal of the customs bond is expected to catalyse growth of business at the facility.

On the transit cargo, she said the port handled a total of 6,585,508 tons between January and October this year compared to 6,476,341 tons registered in the corresponding period last year.

“This improvement was mainly attributed to cargo on transit to Uganda...In summary, performance in the course of the year shows that we are on the right track,” she said.

DEPORT EXPANSION

In addition, she said ship turnaround time improved to three days in October this year against five days registered last year in the same period.

"In particular, clearing container vessels improved as it now takes fewer days compared to last year.

"Overall dwell time also reduced as containers could be cleared faster hence reducing the length of time it used to stay at the port," she said.

The port boss also announced the expansion of the Nairobi Inland Container Deport in readiness to handle the anticipated increase in rail-bound cargo volumes from the port to the hinterland.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the government is developing strategic transport infrastructure project to spur economic growth.

Construction of an alternative route from Mombasa port to Bujumbura passing through Holili-Singida–Kobera border is ongoing, he added.

In a speech read on his behalf by KPA Chairman Marsden Madoka, Mr Macharia said the authority had acquired 50 acres of land in Taveta (Kenya-Tanzania border) where it will build an Inland Container Depot, a vantage place to get business from Burundi.

The CS added that the government had received financial support from the African Development Bank to start construction of Mariakani-Mombasa dual carriageway to ease traffic.