Transporters criticise Govt Chemist

Containers at Dar es Salaam Port. Stakeholders say fees charged by the Government Chemist Laboratory Agency for transporters on chemicals in transit are inordinately high. PHOTO | FILE.

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The vice president of the Tanzania Association of Transporters, Mr Omar Kiponza, told BusinessWeek that the fees are unrealistic

Dar es Salaam. Fees charged by the Government Chemist Laboratory Agency (GCLA) for transporters on chemicals in transit are inordinately high, stakeholders say.
The vice president of the Tanzania Association of Transporters, Mr Omar Kiponza, told BusinessWeek that the fees are unrealistic.
 “It is small wonder that there is a drastic decline in chemical cargo, especially sulphur imports by the Zambian based copper mining companies at the Dar es Salaam Port. Such problems should be discussed by stakeholders,” says Mr Kiponza.
He says in the past the government used to gain more revenue from the bill of lading rather than the current fee of $2 per tonne of a cargo of obnoxious chemicals being charged by the GCLA.
The charges for a tonne of other types of cargo is $1.
“Apart from fees charged they have introduced a regulation requiring importers of transit cargo of sulphur to pack the cargo into packages rather than bulk cargo. This issue has forced them to abandon the Dar es Salaam Port.”
According to him, even if they charge $1 per tonne it is expensive, because a sulphur importer normally transports 100,000 metric tonnes of cargo, implying that they have to pay $100,000 (Sh218 million) instead of a bill of lading charge of only $100 (Sh 218,000).
He also complains about the short period given for transporters to move the chemical cargo, saying it affects the conduct of logistic services.
“South Africa provides three months for movement of chemical cargo, but here only two weeks. Apart from VAT on transit goods, importers have been also complaining over such procedure.”
According to him, at least 300,000 vehicles that used to transport sulphur to Zambia now have been grounded in the country, causing huge loss of government revenue apart from employment opportunities to Tanzanian drivers, owners of lodges and food vendors operating along the roads.
 Even the drivers of transit cargo have been raising similar complaints that they have lost jobs and income for sustaining their lives in this biggest city.
Mr Seleman Kimbu, a trucker who operates on the southern transport corridor that links the Dar es Salaam Port and the Zambian Copper Belt, complains that for almost a month he has been jobless.
“Life is becoming harder because there are no trucks. Truck owners are complaining that there are inadequate goods.”
However, the Chief Government Chemist, Prof Samwel Manyele, says the complaints are baseless because the GCLA held the stakeholders’ meeting on that matter and there was an agreement for using such a procedure.
“We have already met stakeholders under the Tanzania Trucks Owners Association and the issue was resolved. I think those who continue to complain were accustomed to engaging in dubious deals at the Dar es Salaam Port,” says Prof Manyele.
According to him, the $1 fee per tonne was intended to cover running costs of GCLA, which has employed several inspectors of chemical cargo.
He says the rule for transporting packed chemical cargo is in line with international safety standards.
“The  cargo decline at the Dar es Salaam Port hasn’t been caused by the new procedure of importing chemical cargo. It is due to the fact that unscrupulous dealers have abandoned the port. We better remain with the honest ones,” he says.