Sh2 billion cranes commissioned for Mombasa port

Deputy President William Ruto is being shown the project plans by the Transport Cabinet Secretary Maichael Kamau. Ruto was at the port of Mombasa to officially commission Rubber Tyred Grantry Cranes at Berth No Five. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

MOMBASA: Deputy President William Ruto has said Mombasa port and Coast region is free from extremists and drug barons and peddlers.

Speaking during the commissioning of 12 Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes at the port Wednesday, Ruto said the Government has put measures to make the port and the country safe.

"The coastal region is too important to be left in the hands of extremists, drug barons and peddlers. I want to confirm to you that we are going to take them by the horns to ensure that the port, the county and the country is safe," said the DP.

The modern cranes were procured from Finland at Sh2 billion by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to improve operational efficiency following an increase in cargo volumes.

"The commissioning of these cranes is part of the port modernization programme. The future of this port is bright," Ruto said.

Present were Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau, principal secretary Nduva Muli, KPA managing director Gichiri Ndua and members of the parliamentary committee on Public Works and Transport led by Bura MP Ali Wario.

Last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta witnessed the sinking of a ship which had shipped in heroin worth Sh1 billion in the war against drug trafficking.

Ruto announced Wednesday that the Government will advertise tenders for the construction of the southern bypass road and bridge commonly known as Dongo Kundu project this year.

He said the road linking Mombasa and the south Coast will speed up the evaluation of cargo from the port and hence address congestion at the facility.

"We are going to tender for the Dongo Kundu project in June this year. The road will help evacuate containers from this port," Ruto said, adding that roads around the port will be expanded from this year to allow quick removal of cargo from the port.

He also said then construction of the standard gauge railway will improve the carriage of cargo by rail from the port from five percent to more than 50 percent and cut down transport costs by 70 percent.

Mr Wario who spoke on behalf of his committee members said they were concerned about the delay in the construction of the Dongo Kundu road.

"I am here to express our concern over the government delay to construct the Dongo Kundu road," Wario said.

Country director of Trade Mark East Africa Dr Chris Kiptoo announced plans to fund a green port environmental project at a cost of US$36 million (Sh3.2 billion) to improve the health of port workers and users.

He also said the organization will fund a dual carriageway from the second container terminal under construction through Port Reitz area to the tune of US$ 20 million (Sh1.8 billion) to improve the flow of cargo when the new terminal starts operations next year.

"Our mission is to grow East Africa through trade," Kiptoo said.

Engineer Kamau said the tendering process for the operator of the second container terminal would be competed in December this year so as to start work early next year.

"This port serves East and Central Africa region and I am urging all stakeholders to cooperate and ensure operations are not disrupted," Kamau said.

Mr Ndua said the 12 new cranes increased the complement in this category to 34 for the entire port, adding that KPA has ordered for three ship-to-shore gantry cranes for the new berth 19 to be delivered in July this year.

The new RTGs commissioned Wednesday have a safe working load of 45 tonnes and can stack five containers high.

They are fitted with special electronic gadgets that give them capacity to track containers on stack at the port yard.

"This means that the operators can key in the physical position of the container during stacking thus linking with our ICT systems to give real time and online information," Ndua explained.

The ports chief said the total cargo traffic at the port increased from 22.307 million in 2013 to 24.87 million last year, representing a growth of 11.5 percent.

"On the other hand, container traffic registered a substantial growth of 13.2 percent; rising from 894,000 teus (twenty foot equivalent units) in 2013 to 1,012,002 teus in 2014," Ndua observed.