Kisumu port marooned by stubborn water hyacinth

 

Kisumu port is now inaccessible as water hyacinth continues to choke trade on Lake Victoria.

More than 2,000 tonnes of fertiliser imported by Uganda is among cargo worth millions of shillings still being held at the port.

The shipment consolidated since January cannot leave warehouses at the port because the berthing bay is inaccessible, according to port manager Mwalimu Disi.

Grounded goods

Cooking oil, soap and sugar going into the neighbouring countries are part of the grounded goods.

“Nothing is happening here. It is a logistical nightmare. Trailers and trucks keep bringing in goods but nothing is going out. Some traders are already resorting to having their consignments moved by road,” he said Thursday.

Proliferation of the water weed, which has carpeted the port, has crippled operations.

In February, a ferry wagon from Tanzania got stuck in water hyacinth a few metres away from the harbour for nearly a week.

Mr Disi said vessels were recording heavy fuel consumption as they tried to navigate around the water weed, incurring unprecedented expenses.

“Those that have to come do so with a lot of difficulty. In January, we saw a vessel take 12 hours to dock at the port in a distance of less than a kilometre due heavy presence of hyacinth,” Disi said.

He said from an average of just two ships docking at the port daily late last year when the hyacinth spread began, the number thinned to one in January and none in the past two months.

During normal operations, the port receives up to four vessels daily, moving over 4,000 tonnes of goods to other East Africa countries.

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