Trains slowed down by clogged city cargo depot

The congested Inland Container Depot Nairobi. The depot is currently holding more than 10,270 Teus. [Gideon Maundu, Standard]

Cargo-ladden trains from the port of Mombasa are being kept waiting for hours before offloading at the inland container depot  due to lack of space.

Off-take of cargo at the depot by trucks has been slow compared to the rate of delivery of containers by trains from Mombasa.

Cargo owners' slow pace of removing their goods is posing a major headache to Government agencies operating at the facility.

When we visited the Inland Container Depot Nairobi (ICDN) last Friday, officials were racing against time to create space for arriving containers. Three trains were waiting at the Syokimau SGR station, each carrying about 108 twenty-foot equivalent units (teus) or 80 to 90 containers.

The situation has also hampered the 24-hour loading operation at the port as the trains spend time about three kilometres away to be allowed to deliver cargo to the Nairobi facility.

The ICDN is currently holding more than 10,270 teus while its efficiency level is reportedly at 6,000 units.

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), which owns the ICDN, will from today start evacuating containers that have been at the depot for long to free space for new cargo.

KPA will team up with the Kenya Railway Corporation (KRC), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) and the Kenya Plant Inspectorate Services (Kephis), among other agencies, to clear the containers that have hampered SGR operations.

Sources told The Standard that Transport Principal Secretary Esther Koimet last week met Government officials involved in the ICDN operations and ordered speedy transfer of containers. KPA General Manager, Operations, William Ruto said about 3,000 container units which have been at the depot for more than 21 days will be moved to Makongeni KRC yard.

“The ICDN is not a storage facility. We are going to transfer and store the containers that have stayed here for more than 21 days. The cargo owners will bear the cost of marshalling and storage,” Mr Ruto said.

The head of ICDN Simon Wahome said once the containers were transferred, cargo owners would pay KPA Sh2,000 per 20ft container daily and Sh3,000 for the 40ft boxes. Usually, the containers enjoy free four-day storage before attracting charges.

Storage fees

According to Mr Wahome, cargo owners could be delaying picking up their goods due the low storage fees at the depot compared to private yards.

He also said he suspected the heightened war on counterfeits could have prompted some importers to abandon their containers.

Ruto added that KPA had leased five other container peripheral storage facilities near the ICDN, but was waiting for their gazettement.

According to the official, KPA was planning to acquire at least 65 acres near the ICDN for cargo storage.

Eight cargo trains operate between Mombasa and Nairobi daily.