Press Center | Freight Shipping Logistics News
Aug 1, 2008
General
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Kenya Ports Authority has short-listed five firms to provide alternative container transport between Mombasa port and Kisumu inland container depot, following the closure of rail services.
Kenya Ports Authority has short-listed five firms to provide alternative container transport between Mombasa port and Kisumu inland container depot, following the closure of rail services.
The transport firms are currently awaiting clearance from the customs department to start offering the much-needed services of decongesting the Nakuru ICD, Mr Joseph Atonga, KPA technical services manager, said on Friday, at the Kisumu showground.
Mr Atonga added that the closure of the Nakuru-Kisumu line was impacting negatively on KPA, necessitating the decision to look elsewhere for alternative means to transport cargo.
“We felt that if the situation continues this way, customers might consider importing through the Dar es Salaam port, though that may not be an immediate solution,” he said.
Mr Atonga said importers would be allowed to change the mode of transport of their goods from rail transport to road without extra charges.
KPA uses services offered by Rift Valley Railways (RVR) to ferry containers to its ICDs in Nairobi and Kisumu, but the recent suspension of the services upcountry has meant the port is congested with cargo.
Cases of vandalism
RVR closed the Nakuru-Kisumu line in June, citing increased cases of vandalism on its equipment that caught importers and exporters unawares.
Kisumu traders and clearing agents disclosed that 107 wagons of cargo worth Sh4.5 billion was lying in Nakuru as a due to the closure of the railway between Nakuru and Kisumu.
They also said they had lost more than Sh500 million since the indefinite closure in June.
The indefinite closure has since caused uproar with several leaders, clearing agents and business people calling for the cancellation of the concession agreement between RVR and the government.
The closure has also affected transit cargo to Western Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
The management of RVR has set September 30 this year as the tentative date they can resume operations.
The transport firms are currently awaiting clearance from the customs department to start offering the much-needed services of decongesting the Nakuru ICD, Mr Joseph Atonga, KPA technical services manager, said on Friday, at the Kisumu showground.
Mr Atonga added that the closure of the Nakuru-Kisumu line was impacting negatively on KPA, necessitating the decision to look elsewhere for alternative means to transport cargo.
“We felt that if the situation continues this way, customers might consider importing through the Dar es Salaam port, though that may not be an immediate solution,” he said.
Mr Atonga said importers would be allowed to change the mode of transport of their goods from rail transport to road without extra charges.
KPA uses services offered by Rift Valley Railways (RVR) to ferry containers to its ICDs in Nairobi and Kisumu, but the recent suspension of the services upcountry has meant the port is congested with cargo.
Cases of vandalism
RVR closed the Nakuru-Kisumu line in June, citing increased cases of vandalism on its equipment that caught importers and exporters unawares.
Kisumu traders and clearing agents disclosed that 107 wagons of cargo worth Sh4.5 billion was lying in Nakuru as a due to the closure of the railway between Nakuru and Kisumu.
They also said they had lost more than Sh500 million since the indefinite closure in June.
The indefinite closure has since caused uproar with several leaders, clearing agents and business people calling for the cancellation of the concession agreement between RVR and the government.
The closure has also affected transit cargo to Western Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
The management of RVR has set September 30 this year as the tentative date they can resume operations.
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