Tanzania to construct a 4 mln USD inland port

A Tanzanian cabinet minister said on Tuesday the government will next month start construction of a four million-US dollar inland container depot (ICD) in Coast region to decongest the Dar es Salaam port and improve efficiency.

The Dar es Salaam port is busy and faces congestion as it serves landlocked countries of Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

Makame Mbarawa, the east African nation's Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, said the ICD will be constructed in 500 hectares of land and will be completed in nine weeks.

He was speaking after he had witnessed the signing of an agreement to implement the ICD project between the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and Suma JKT of the Tanzania National Services.

"Once the project is completed, we expect an accelerated movement of goods and containers from the Dar es Salaam port to the ICD, something that will decongest the port," he said.

Mbarawa said plans were also afoot to widen and increase depths of berths in the Dar es Salaam port and construct a new berth in Mtwara port to enable large vessels to dock.

Mbarawa said the next plan for the government was to construct a 300-meter berth at the port of Mtwara that would enable large ships to dock.

The project would be followed by another project to construct a 300-meter long berth at the Dar es Salaam port to specifically service imported vehicles.

"We are also planning to expand berths number one to seven to allow large and modern ships to dock, especially when tides are low," said the minister.

Mbarawa said contractors for these projects have been sought using existing tendering procedures, adding that the contractors were currently being verified by the Attorney General to establish their due diligence. Endit