KPA Unmoved About Cries Of CFSs, Says Port Has Enough Cargo Capacity

The cries of Container Freight Stations (CFSs) based in Mombasa concerning their closure has fallen on deaf ears as the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) insists that the containers are not needed since transportation of cargo will be done via the SGR.

KPA says that the containers were only needed for a short period of time when the port had limited capacity several years ago.

“The port of Mombasa now has sufficient cargo handling capacity. To add on that, we have reduced cargo dwell time, a more efficient Inland Container Terminal (ICD) in Nairobi-supported by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and faster clearing processes at the harbor,” said KPA.

The improvements, which have been facilitated by the port’s investment in modern technology, is what KPA says have made things a lot easier in the cargo storage and transportation sector.

According to KPA, in the last ten years, cargo handling capacity at the Mombasa port has increased from 250,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) to above 1.30 million TEU by 2018.

“The cargo handling capacity has phenomenally increased over the last decade to over a million that we no longer need any storage facilities. Our 30 billion-shilling second container terminal has its phase one supporting cargo storage with a 550,000 capacity,” said KPA’s head of corporate affairs Bernard Osero.

During an interview at the Nairobi Inland Container Terminal, Mr. Osero said that the Container Freight Station owners should stop crying foul as the were aware that they were to operate for only a short period.

He added that containers belong to importers and the port needs space so cargo ought to be picked immediately it reaches the port and the ICD and that shutting down the CFSs should not be seen as an economical death of the port city.

“There is nothing we are killing. Mombasa will still remain a port city as cargo will still come here. The most important thing is that the port remains functional. CFSs did not start with the port,” he said.

KPA’s managing director Daniel Manduku says that by 2022 the port will have a cargo dwelling capacity of over two million once phases two and three of the second container terminal is complete and the 50-acre land of the terminal that is expected to handle 450,000 TEU reclaimed.

Meanwhile, hundreds of truckers and more than 3,000 CFS workers have been sent home for lack of business and have accused the government of being responsible for their woes.

Mr. Osero, however, says that SGR can only take 40 percent cargo leaving the rest to truckers when optimally operating.

“There was no intention of rendering people jobless. What needs to be done in Mombasa is to invest in the export processing zones, value addition factories and other businesses that can make use of the port,” he said.