The government intends to make the Naivasha Inland Container Depot a fully-fledged transhipment centre for cargo destined for landlocked East African countries.
The trans-shipment centre, which received its first cargo on May 7, has been already gazetted as a Customs area.
It is projected to handle at least four SGR trains daily.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia told the Star in an interview the facility will drastically reduce the distance the cargo travels from Mombasa to Naivasha. Thus, it will give the country an advantage over competing regional transport corridors.
All cargo destined for EAC member states of Uganda, Rwanda, northern Tanzania and South Sudan will be transported directly to the facility in record time from the Mombasa port.
“We started receiving cargo there (Naivasha ICD)) on May 7 and the plan is to make sure it is a fully-fledged transhipment centre where cargo for Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC will be coming through,” Macharia said.
Its gazettement as a Customs area means cargo for those countries will take a much shorter transit time, he said.
The Naivasha ICD was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta six months ago.
Trucks from Mombasa take at least two days to reach Naivasha. It will take the SGR trains about 10 hours to move cargo from the port to Naivasha.
This, Macharia said, will make the standard gauge railway and the corridor very competitive.
“This basically will cater for all the cargo for those countries. It is a very important facility in terms of value addition and in terms of making sure that we remain competitive as the Northern Corridor compared to the other corridors.”
It was a worthwhile investment by the government, the CS said.4 of Kenya, the
The Naivasha ICD will also reduce congestion in the Nairobi ICD and Mombasa port and ensure seamless transhipment of goods to neighbouring countries, he said.
Truck drivers entering the ICD Naivasha, just as at the Port of Mombasa are required to have Covid-free certificates to ensure cargo exits through the borders efficiently and swiftly.
The facility can handle two million tonnes annually. It will reduce the number of trucks on the roads.
The Naivasha ICD is a one-stop centre for ease of operations and efficient services.
It houses all government agencies involved in cargo handling such as the Kenya Railways, Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Bureau of Standards and Port Health (Public Health).
Ugandan, Rwandan, South Sudanese and Tanzanian revenue authorities are also housed at the facility where they have been allocated space for logistics. operations.
The 45,000-square metre ICD will receive 216 Twenty-foot equivalent Units (TEUs) daily hauled by Madaraka Express Freight Service trains.
- mwaniki fm
