The East African Legislative Assembly has called for closer co-operation between Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports to hasten importation and exportation of goods.
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has constituted two teams to look at the workings of the region’s transport corridors including ports.
The Northern Corridor team, led by Mathias Kasamba, will cover the Mombasa port, the Kenya Revenue Authority and Holili-Taveta, Namanga and Malaba borders.
“Much as the Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports serve the East African Community, there are areas where they can co-operate and hasten importation and exportation of goods,” said Mr Kasamba.
EALA is seeking to develop policies that will among others increase resource allocation for the expansion of the Port of Mombasa to further improve efficiency at the port.
Read:Mombasa port secures Sh35b to build container terminal
In September 2017, Kenya ports Authority(KPA) announced that it had secured a Sh35 billion loan from the Japanese government for the construction of the second phase of the second container terminal at Mombasa port aimed at decongesting the port.
“We already have the Sh35 billion financing from the Japanese government. We are now in the tendering process but construction must commence by January 2018,” said Ms Mturi-Wairi at the time.
The biggest port in East Africa and the region’s trade gateway, Mombasa handles imports of fuel and consumer goods and exports of tea and coffee from landlocked neighbours such as Uganda and South Sudan and its traffic flows serve as a barometer of economic activity in the region.
EALA is also keen to push for policies that will support the construction of more Special Economic Zones across the region to support expansion of trade activities as well as the creation of job opportunities.
EALA is the legislative arm of East Africa Community(EAC). EAC believes that it will speedily attain the pillars of integration if restrictive regulations and internal controls on goods moving between the partner states are eliminated.