Elders offer wisdom to Dar Port agreement debate

DAR ES SALAAM elders on Thursday came out strongly, saying considering their long experiences the Dar es Salaam Port highly needs public-private investment for it to be competitive in the market.

The senior citizens, most of who had served as port workers some decades ago, took the stance in the city after organising a trip to see what was going on at the port.

About 20 elders from all districts in the city also expressed their sentiment against the ongoing debate on the investment partnership between Tanzania and the Emirates of Dubai, saying the squabble will take the nation to nowhere.

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“As Dar es Salaam elders we have witnessed physically the situation at the Dar es Salaam Port and we are satisfied that the port needs public-private investment for it to be more competitive…people should give constructive inputs to improve the current Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and the expected project contracts,” said Mzee Ramadhani Matimbwa, Chairperson of the Dar es Salaam Elders Consultative Council.

Elaborating, he said as elders they have a picture of the port from decades ago adding that the current status shows things have really changed technologically.

“We have seen here how things have improved, the government has made big improvements in terms of infrastructures for loading and unloading cargo, but still looking at the competition with other neighbouring ports, we need more private investment because the government cannot do it alone,” he said, adding that the government’s funds have other roles like social services infrastructures such as hospitals and schools to foot.

For instance, at the Dar es Salaam Port the six-phase government has purchased some two machineries called ‘Under Twin Lift Telescopic Spreader’ worth 40bn/- each for offloading and loading containers to vessels, but still there is a deficit of some.

“It is no doubt that DP World has a big capacity for investment globally. We as elders are saddened with the ongoing debate which may divide us. Why all these, what if we were divided during the independence struggle, could we have been independent today?’ he posed.

He said that they (elders) are satisfied that bringing in the DP World is a positive step in bringing development, but encouraged constructive ideas to be presented to the government in a proper way.

“The IGA is just an initial agreement, later on the government will sit with the DP World to identify specific projects to undertake jointly under special agreements,” he pointed out.

At this juncture, the elders called upon political leaders to constructively contribute in the debate without dividing the Tanzanians.

“Again, the government should take into consideration views from experts so as to fast-track this investment from this private investor, if we still delay because of unnecessary squabble our competitors will leave us behind,” he stressed.

Initially, when briefing the elders during their visit, Dar es Salaam Port Director, Mrisho Mrisho said the port needed massive investments to capture the world market.

‘This requires the private sector engagement since the government has many other things to do in serving the citizens,” Mr Mrisho argued.

He stressed that investment in infrastructures and modern equipment are really needed and that was possible through the partnership under good agreements.

Recently, the government shed light on legal contents contained in the Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) between Tanzania and the Emirates of Dubai, in particular its lifespan and national security matters.

Speaking on Saturday evening during the open virtue symposium ‘clubhouse’, the Director of Legal Services at the Ministry of Works and Transport, Advocate Mohamed Salum allayed fears to the public that the IGA is a framework agreement which is not eternal.

“This contract is a framework agreement; it does not talk about the time or even the figures that are going to be invested…the duration of the contracts would be unveiled in project agreements apart from this framework agreement…the contract is not forever as explained in Article 23 of the IGA,” Advocate Salum underlined.

Adding: “The duration of the contract will depend on the assessment of the projects agreement done by the government and investor, before the implementation of the project.”

Moreover, he added that the procedure for the investment on concession agreements, the investment period is directly compatible with the level of investment adding that the level of investment will determine the duration of the investment.

Commenting about the fear of the nation’s security being in the hands of foreigners after investment, the Director of Legal Services said the agreement established does not eliminate the government’s role in managing port’s security.

“There is something we need to distinguish between the port operator and terminal operator…in Tanzania; only TPA has a mandate as port operator …we can have terminal operators like Tanzania International Container Terminal Services Limited (TICTS) was…

So the responsibility of port security belongs to the port operator and not the terminal operator, and here in section 12 explains the implementation of projects that do not compromise the security of our nation… we have been with TICS for almost 22 years and we have never had a security incident,” he said

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