Zanzibar Envisages Surge in Container Traffic in Tanzania
ZANZIBAR: According to President Hussein Mwinyi, the government aims to increase container handling at Zanzibar ports from 82,312 in 2018 to 105,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units in 2025 by purchasing modern equipment.
“The key objective is to accelerate quality transportation for passengers and cargo to boost the growth of the economy and other sectors such as tourism, trade, construction, transportation, and investment,” Dr Mwinyi stated at the launch of Pemba’s Mkoani Port’s first container ship.
The government is committed to enhancing the efficiency of port services, which are crucial to island economies.
The government has officially entrusted Fumba Port Limited with container loading and offloading at Mkoani port, noting that CMA/CGM shipping brought the first consignment of 45 containers to Pemba.
In addition to building a passenger building, the new investor will expand the cargo dock, build luggage storage facilities, and prepare an expansion plan for the port, including customs and small processing plants for cloves, seaweed, and agricultural products, the president assured.
At Mkoani Port, the government has invested 6.4bn/- in the construction of a 4,200 square metre container yard with an electrical security fence that can store 580 containers. As part of the investment, a passenger passage measuring 300 metres long and 2.5 metres wide will also be constructed at the port, according to Dr Mwinyi.
Investments at the port facility include the widening of routes for working equipment, such as reach stackers, cranes, and terminal tractors, and the construction of a 120-metre-long retaining wall against soil erosion.
Zanzibar Port Authority (ZPA) has invested 4.87bn/- in the procurement of container offloading equipment, including two reach stackers, a crane and a weight bridge.
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Additionally, President Mwinyi announced plans to procure a tugboat and a pilot boat to improve service to national and international ships.
It is imperative that traders conduct their activities ethically and trustfully, especially in product pricing, in order to generate ethical profits, Mwinyi said, noting that the key goal should be to ease product availability and reduce the cost of living for wananchi.
