A DELEGATION of Customs Officers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) led by their Director of Customs and Excise Mr René Kalala Masimango has praised the sixth phase government led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan and the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) for the completion of Kwala Dry Port in the Coastal Region.
Mr Masimango who is in-charge of the Haut Katanga, Lualaba, Tanganyika and Lomami provinces made the remark on Friday when he visited the dry port to see its progress.
"We commend you for the good work, among the provinces which are under my supervision Haut Katanga receives 80 per cent of the DRC cargo which pass through Dar es Salaam Port ... this tour is very important to us to see its readiness to handle our cargo, get firsthand information and activities being done here," he said.
On his part, Tanzania Ambassador to the DRC, Said Juma Mshana noted that the purpose of the tour was for business improvements, especially strengthening trade between the two countries.
While at Kwala Dry Port, the delegation visited and inspected the 10 hectare area allocated by the government for Handling DRC cargo passing through the Dar es Salaam Port.
On his part TPA Property Manager, Mr Alexander Ndibalema said that upon completion the port will help to reduce congestion at Dar Port by 30 per cent and increase government revenue through the cargo served at the port.
The completion of the dry port which has reached 95 per cent is a result of good leadership of the sixth phase government that pumped in 83.247bn/- for the construction and development of the port.
The project involved construction of a 15.5 kilometres concrete road Morogoro Highway at Vigwaza area with the Kwala Dry Port. The port will also have rail, water, road, electricity and community infrastructures that will simplify operations at the port and the project area in general.
The operations of Kwala Port will help to reduce congestion at Dar Port because it will store on-transit cargo to neighbouring countries of Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, Uganda, Zambia and Malawi.
The ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi's (CCM) Election Manifesto directs the government to develop transport infrastructures of all ports, since they are crucial in stimulating social economic development of the country.
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The Third Five-Year Development Plan 2021/22 - 2025/26 has also stressed the importance of improving the performance of the ports in the country.
The impending functioning of this dry port, located in Coast region, would usher in a new era of carrying cargo by train from the Dar es Salaam Port, thus, relieving roads from catering for heavy cargo trucks from the country's mega port.
Currently, long vehicles congest Dar es Salaam every day to load containers before shipping them to the neighbouring countries, and end up causing heavy traffic jams in the city roads.
