THE government has made clear that the Dar es Salaam Port development deal is meant to boost the economy and lives of the people in the country.
Minister for Works and Transport, Prof Makame Mbarawa revealed this during a meeting with members of the Tanzania Editors Forum (TEF) regarding the port’s development in Dar es Salaam, on Friday.
According to him, currently, at least 37 per cent of the country’s budget was being generated from the operations of the Dar es Salaam Port.
“With a good investment, the Dar Port is bound to service the national budget by at least 67 per cent,” said Prof Mbarawa, insisting that Tanzania has all the right resources to manage its affairs and avoid dependency from others.
He observed that the port business has a lot of competition, indicating that the neighbouring Mombasa Port has built berths which are operated by the private sector.
The same applied to Mozambique (Beira Port), Namibia (Namport), Angola (Lobito Port), Togo (Lome) and in Morocco, noting that the reason being efficiency and aggressive marketing to seek enough and reliable cargo.
Prof Mbarawa noted that globally only 10 companies were responsible for port operations and out of them, DP World handled at least10 per cent of all cargo in the world, insisting that the government decision to entre into an agreement with them was crucial and critical.
Responding to some of the questions which come up as concerns among members of the public, Director General of Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), Mr Hamza Johari who was part of the negotiation team urged people to thoroughly read the entire agreement document in totality so as to get a clear meaning and understanding.
“Many of the questions being raised at the present time will be addressed in the Host Government Agreement (HGA), the Concession and Leasing Agreement,” noted Mr Johari.
For his part, the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Director General, Mr Plasduce Mbossa said the government has carried out major investment at the port but it needs to go further in the installation of state-of-the-art equipment and have appropriate docking sites to be able to operate competitively.
Such will lead to a stable economy of the country, therefore through the investment the country was going to reap huge dividends.
“In four-months’ time most of the raised questions will have obtained clear answers…we are prepared and ready in ensuring the process of arriving at the HGA, Concessional and Leasing Agreement is arrived at safely.
“There is where we will know how much will be obtained, the areas and other things…we can’t go into much detail due to issues of the law and negotiations,” noted the DG.
With regard to the issue of employees at the port losing their jobs, he said the issue of handling cargo does not only employ automated machines alone as implied by many, because people will be employed.
He revealed that to go into full automation required a large area, noting that upon implementation of the Bagamoyo Port which is slated to begin this year, it will allow for full automation or else will be operating manually or semi-automation.
“The staff at the port will remain with their jobs and DP World is expected to employ even many others,” he said.
On the other hand, the Legal Officer at the Ministry of Work and Transport, Mohamed Salum expressed appreciation to all the parties that gave their recommendations with regard to the matter, saying the government has received all the suggestions.
Mr Salum noted that the agreement had taken into consideration all the necessary processes at first hand and not rushed in any way.
“For any amendments to be taken into consideration, there has to be an exchange of instruments,” he said, indicating that the document has been properly crafted.
Commenting on whether the agreement is binding Tanzania not to explore other opportunities, he said the agreement has a scope of its implementation, whereby Tanzania will inform Dubai of any other opportunities relating to ports outside the scope.
He said that the only basis of the government to negotiate with Dubai is on the agreement.
“It’s not a binding obligation…exclusive right of 12 months given under Article 5, whereby upon expiry of the time, TPA can entitle other parties.
Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Transport, Dr Ally Possi cautioned against the use of intimidation statements against elders and leaders, saying serious measures will be taken against those involved.
