LONDON: The Parliamentary Committee for Industry, Trade and Environment plans to invite Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, key stakeholders and ministries responsible for ports’ management to a meeting in a bid to find a solution to the decline of cargo volume at Dar es Salaam Port. The country’s major sea gateway has been experiencing massive decline in transit cargo traffic in recent months.
The reason for the decline ranges from the country’s introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on transit goods and strict tax collection measures imposed by the government. Speaking to reporters shortly after holding a number of meetings yesterday with port stakeholders and Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) together with Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the Committee Chairman, Dr Dalaly Kafumu, hinted that the meeting largely aims at addressing the situation. “We held a meeting with port stakeholders earlier. We heard their concerns and recommendations that were geared to bring the port back on track as there is a steep decline of cargo now as compared to previous years.
