TRAFFIC congestion at the Dar es Salaam Port and roads leading to it is set to end after Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) introduced a huge parking lot and a new procedure for trucks to enter the port. The parking lot is located at the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) area commonly known as ‘Kurasini Shimo la Udongo’.
An announcement issued on Wednesday by the TPA’s Director-General Eric Hamissi said the new arrangement will be effective from January 5th next year. The statement said trucks entering the port would be allowed under optimal number to be decided by responsible officials at the transit shed as per their capacity of handling a particular number of vehicles.
Under the new arrangement, a customer would be allowed to bring trucks into the port after completing all procedures for clearing the cargo. The TPA boss assured that there would be effective communication between the port’s security department and clearing agents in order to know the number of trucks needed to get into the port during that particular time.
Therefore, the trucks will no longer be allowed to park alongside the roads leading to the port, instead, they will park at the designated parking lot at the EPZA, located at Shimo la Udongo area. “We call upon stakeholders to observe the new arrangements in order to improve performance and increase the efficiency of our port,” the statement said.
The TPA’s move came after several meetings with stakeholders to deliberate on ways to address traffic congestion. In one of the forums to mark 100 days of President Samia Suluhu Hassan in power, members of the private sector admitted that the President has positively impacted their activities at the port. The latter was speaking at a forum organized by the Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC) for assessing the performance of President Samia during 100 days of her leadership.
Mr Alkarim Dawood, Chairman of Transit-Cross border, said President Samia has built trust among them in the transport sector, noting that the Head of State has managed to transform the TPA, and thus putting the country in a better position to compete and increase employment.
Mr Dawood said during this time, a port improvement committee was introduced, including more engagement of stakeholders and earmarking of parking area for trucks heading to the Dar es Salaam Port. “We as stakeholders have been involved in giving views for improvement of the ports,” he admitted.