LONDON: Local importers and exporters using Dar es Salaam port have complained of thefts at sea port in which they have lost millions of dollars. However, Eng Deusdedit Kakoko (pictured right), the director general Tanzania Ports Authority, says all that is in the past. Business Times’ Peterson Tumwebaze caught up with him in Kigali last week to discuss efforts geared at addressing the challenges faced by Rwandan traders who use Dar port, particularly ensuring security at the port, as well as the strategies being put in place to eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) along the Central Corridor and enhance trade between Rwanda and Tanzania.
Safety and security in the port area is guaranteed by TPA through its own mechanism and its agents, including inland container depots (ICDs), the Container Terminal Operator (TICTS). We have tightened security by installing a state-of-the-art integrated security system (ISS) which includes fixing CCTV cameras at various points around the port.
More so, the Tanzania Railways and the truck operators along the Central Corridor give priority to cargo safety and security. The port exercises zero tolerance to any malpractice, be it among port employees, those of TICTS, or others. I wish, therefore, to assure customers in Rwanda, and around the world, that theft at the port premises is now history.
