Zanzibar envisages surge in container traffic
ZANZIBAR: THE government intends to increase the number of containers handled in Zanzibar ports from 82,312 in 2018 to 105,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units in 2025 through the procurement of modern and highly efficient equipment, President Hussein Mwinyi announced on Monday.
“The key target is to accelerate quality transport and transportation services for passengers and cargo to boost the growth of the economy and other sectors such as tourism, trade, construction, transport and investment,” Dr Mwinyi said at the launch of Pemba’s Mkoani Port’s first container ship.
He said the government is determined to boost efficiency in the delivery of port services, which are crucial in the economies of island countries.
President Mwinyi said the government has officially entrusted Fumba Port Limited with container loading and offloading services at Mkoani port, noting that the first consignment of 45 containers in Pemba was brought by the CMA/CGM shipping company.
The new investor, the president assured, will effect changes through the construction of a passenger building; expansion of the cargo dock; construction of a luggage storage facility; preparation of the port expansion plan, including customs and small processing industries for cloves, seaweed and agro products.
The government has so far invested 6.4bn/- in the construction of a 4,200 square metre container yard, with an electrical security fence, capable of storing 580 containers, at Mkoani Port. The investment also involves the construction of a 300-metre long and 2.5-metre-wide passenger passage at the port, Dr Mwinyi said.
Route widening for working equipment, including reach stacker, crane and terminal tractors; as well as the construction of a 120-metre long retaining wall against soil erosion are part of the investment at the port facility.
The government through Zanzibar Port Authority (ZPA) has invested 4.87bn/- in the procurement of container offloading equipment, including two reach stackers, crane and one weight bridge for improved container handling services.
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President Mwinyi further announced plans to procure a tugboat and a pilot boat to further improve services to the national and international ships at the facility.
Dr Mwinyi implored all traders on the islands to conduct their activities trustfully and ethically, especially in product pricing, to generate ethical profits, saying the key focus should be on easing product availability and reducing the cost of life for wananchi.
