Govt to escort 300 containers

Dar es Salaam. The government will now escort more than 300 containers destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) after being held by the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) due to failure to give assurance to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) that the goods were on transit.

TRA director for taxpayer education Richard Kayombo said that since the transporters had off-loaded the goods from containers into trucks to avoid being diverted into the local market, they would be escorted by the police as well as TRA officials until the DR Congo border.

Mr Kayombo noted that the decision was reached after the DR Congo ambassador in the country sought their permission to allow the goods to leave the country as continuing hold them will lead to extra charges.

“Since the goods are no longer in containers, we have decided that they will leave the country under escort,” he stressed.

He said if they had been left as containerized cargo, it would have been easy to track them via the integrated cargo tracking device.

“We will offer the escort when they are ready to take their goods at their own cost,” he said.

The goods have been held for over four weeks at the port after the owners who are transporters from Congo failed to adhere to a process of transporting goods on transit, which basically requires the cargo top be containerised.

For his part, TPA director general Deusdedit Kakoko said due to an agreement the government entered with DR Congo, the cargo will be charged after staying in port for over 30 days.

“At the moment, I can’t establish how much they are being owed until we are given a release form by TRA,” he said.