Clearing agents blame KPA for costly imports
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By Macharia Kamau Sustained high prices of imports has been attributed to inefficiencies at Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and privately run container freight stations at the port. Clearing and forwarding agents said co-operation between the two organisations has seen imports take unnecessarily long before they are cleared at the port. As a result, importers pay more for storage at the port as well as in demurrages. "We are talking about huge amounts, which importers might not be able to recover from their margins when goods are sold locally, and hence have to pass on the costs to consumers," said Mr Chris Bichage, chairman of the Nairobi chapter of Kenya international Freight and Warehousing Association. Among imports whose prices Bichage said would remain high and out of reach for Kenyans include building materials. Prices for products like floor tiles has significantly gone up in the recent past and the Association said people putting up new homes might not get reprieve soon. The privately run container freight stations have been contracted by KPA to offer storage services to importers to ease congestion at the port. Storage services After they started operating, KPA reduced the number of days it offers free storage to importers from seven to five. "Any importer will tell you that it is impossible to clear goods at the port within five days and it seems the delays are deliberate to create business for the CFSs," said Bichage. The Association called on the Government to consider a tax waiver on ships bringing in goods destined for other regional markets. Bichage said a blanket tax regime on all vessels offloading goods at the port irrespective of the destination is driving importers to the port of Dar es Salaam. "If we continue charging value added tax to vessels docking at Mombasa carrying goods meant markets like Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, importers will prefer Tanzanian port. This threatens the position of Kenya as a gateway to the region," he said.