Gitonga Marete And Henry Andanje
3 September 2008
Nairobi — Kenya Ports Authority plans to auction 1,000 containers and 700 unclaimed cars.
KPA has set up a committee to look at ways of disposing of the unclaimed containers and vehicles, including making recommendations on whether some of them should not be sold as scrap.
The committee has two weeks to recommend on how the vehicles and containers, some of which have been at the port for more than eight years, will be disposed of.
Crush vehicles
"We will auction the goods but we might be forced to crush the vehicles that do not conform to Kenya Bureau of Standards regulations and sell the scrap metal," said KPA acting managing director James Mulewa.
The vehicles, most of them heavily corroded due to exposure to sea water, and the containers were contributing to congestion at the port, he said.
Mr Mulewa said since the introduction of the 24-hour working system, cargo clearance was faster, with an average of 1,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units being moved daily.
He was speaking after a meeting of stakeholders, among them Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Roads ministry, Kenya Bureau of Standards and port health, police and clearing agents.
Mr Mulewa said the Kilindini Waterfront Automated Terminal Operating System, which started operating on July 1, had experienced teething problems, but would stabilise in a few months.
"The system will ensure that loopholes, which had initially been exploited by unscrupulous businesspeople, are sealed," he said.
Meanwhile, more than 500 transit lorries are parked on the busy northern corridor despite the new 24-hour working system embraced by both Kenya and Uganda.
Parking space
Kenya Revenue Authority officials said yesterday that, the problem was caused by the Uganda Revenue Authority, which did not have adequate parking space.
"Uganda Revenue Authority has only one entry point, which is used by both incoming and outgoing trucks and lorries, thus creating the congestion," a Kenya Revenue Authority official said.
Stranded drivers said that although they were being cleared throughout the night, they ended up sleeping in the lorries due to congestion on the Ugandan side.
"Ugandan should build a big parking yard like the Kenya Revenue Authority" a driver said.
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