This archive report was first published on 18 October 2019.
Published on October 18, 2019, the Tanzania Ports Authority has issued a stern warning to its staff: those found responsible for causing delays in the clearance of imported vehicles will soon face the axe.
The authority attributes the delays to bureaucratic red tape, which has seen importers abandon the port in favor of more efficient neighboring ports.
As a result, importers are accumulating demurrage charges they cannot pay, forcing the port authority to auction off the vehicles.
According to Deusdedit Kakoko, the TPA's director general, the high rate of sabotage at the port has led to a significant reduction in the volume of imported vehicles.
Between 2014/2015 and 2016/2017, the port cleared 163,772, 127,335, and 93,471 vehicles, respectively.
Despite the modernization of Berth No. 2, designed to handle imported vehicles, the volumes have continued to shrink.
The new berth is expected to handle 600,000 vehicles annually when completed, and the port modernization program aims to ease transportation between Dar es Salaam and destinations in Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Uganda, and SADC countries.
