MCAs seek Joho nod on rail report

Stakeholders in the transport industry protest a Government directive on the Standard Gauge Railway last week. [Gideon Maundu, Standard]

The county assembly wants to debate a report documenting the adverse effects of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) freight services on the local economy.

This comes even as the business community has organised a second street demonstration today to protest a Government order to freight containers to Nairobi using the SGR.

The demonstration, which has been organised by a lobby group known as Fat Action Business Community Movement, is scheduled to start from the famous elephant tusks on Moi Avenue to the Coast regional commissioner’s office at Uhuru Na Kazi building.

Lobby chairman Salim Karama claimed Mombasa’s economy was on its deathbed and the Government should hear out the residents and end the freight monopoly given to SGR.

“All sectors of the economy have been adversely affected by the Government policy on SGR. We are going to protest until Government rescinds this decision because it is hurting us,” said Mr Karama.

Two weeks ago, University of Nairobi’s School of Business published the results of a year-long study that documented how SGR’s monopoly of freight services had hurt the city’s logistics sector, shrunk the county’s economy and caused job losses.

Members of the county assembly want Governor Hassan Joho to explain when the report, which was commissioned by the county government, will be tabled in the House for debate.

The report paints a gloomy picture with the county projected to lose Sh33.3 billion – and the economy to shrink by 16.1 per cent – if all cargo from the port is evacuated using rail transport.

The report notes that since SGR was introduced, the county has shed nearly 3,000 jobs with the number projected to rise to 8,100.

It also reveals that only 13 per cent of cargo handled at the port is destined for Mombasa while the rest is bound for Nairobi, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

Lobby secretary Harriet Muganda said the Government should allow cargo owners the freedom to choose the mode of transporting their goods.

Dock Workers Union General Secretary Simon Sang also backed today’s protest, saying cargo transport was an emotive issue that must be addressed.

Business people said that container freight stations and warehouses were closing down. They noted that it costs Sh120,000 to freight a container to Nairobi and back compared to Sh85,000 using road transport.