Posted on :Thursday , 18th August 2016

Dar es Salaam Port was one of the immediate points of focus by the new John Magufuli government and it was not hard to see why. This facility is, in all intents and purposes, Tanzania Treasury's cash-cow which, whenever it suffered a crash, the revenue collection targets suffered a great deal.

Two surprise visits at the Port by the Prime Minister soon after inauguration of the JPM government resulted into measures that turned around port operations.

We happily note that much as the volume of cargo has dropped, the amount of money collected has gone up! Port insiders concede now that duty was not paid for most of the cargo that the port handled.

The facility has made strides, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. There are further measures that the port management must take while other stakeholders have their role to play.

For the port to operate profitably, for instance, it must handle huge amounts of cargo continuously. For this to happen, commitment of stakeholders involved in the processing of documents and transportation of cargo, are vital.

It is disappointing that Tanzania Railways Limited (TRL) and Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) which are supposed to ferry cargo handled by the Dar es Salaam Port account for less than two per cent of the ports business.

It means virtually all cargo to and from the country's largest port is transported by road. Besides damaging our expensively built roads, haulage by trucks is overly costly and time consuming.

This, in turn, forces the Port to, sometimes, slow down its operations to allow for the slow speed of cargo on the road.

Therefore, after the government clean-up of the port, there is a need to focus on improving Tanzania's railways system, the effect of which will be to boost the Dar es Salaam Port's efficiency and profitability.

BE PRUDENT IN LAND SURVEY

Earlier this week, Lands minister William Lukuvi declared that the new 'Land integrated management system' is ready for launch. He was speaking during a morning programme on a local radio station.

He revealed that the government will survey all land in Tanzania and ensure it is properly planned. Under the programme, the usual bureaucracy that has always made it difficult for individuals to secure title deeds won't be there.

We commend the government intention to ensure all land in the country is surveyed. We expect this to facilitate control on land use, including the establishment of zones for livestock keepers on the one hand and farmers on the other, bring to an end their perennial clashes.

Let us also remind the government to ensure that, as it surveys the land, it should take into consideration land that is held by citizens on customary rights. Traditionally, the poor have continued to enjoy land rights through this mode of ownership.

If this mode is ignored, many citizens, most of whom are poor, would lose their right to land occupancy, as they would not be in a position to meet the cost that normally goes with land survey.

It is our hope the government will exercise prudence and diligence as it implements the much awaited land survey programme.