SPEECH BY THE KENYA PORTS AUTHORITY MANAGING DIRECTOR, MRS. CATHERINE
MTURI-WAIRI,
DURING
THE
NAIROBI
STAKEHOLDERS
BUSINESS LUNCHEON HELD ON 15TH SEPTEMBER 2016 AT HOTEL VILLA ROSA KEMPINSKI IN NAIROBI
The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Mr. James Macharia, EGH., Principal Secretary, State Department of Transport, Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Irungu Nyakera, KPA Board Chairman, Major (RTD) Hon. Marsden Madoka, EGH KPA Board of Directors and Management present, Distinguished stakeholders, All invited guests, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon, First, I want to thank God for giving me a chance to serve this great Authority as the Managing Director. In the same breadth I wish to extend a very warm
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welcome to you all for sparing time out of your busy schedules to join us for this Luncheon. We at Kenya Ports Authority are delighted to host you once again. As we do this, we are conscious of the words of wisdom by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, who says, “A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.� It is because of this we do not take it for granted that you have honored our invitation. Bwana Cabinet Secretary, we are very grateful for your acceptance to grace this occasion as the Guest of Honor, your busy schedule notwithstanding. Indeed your support together with that of Principal Secretary Nyakera and your entire team is instrumental in our quest to facilitate and promote global maritime trade through competitive port services. Distinguished Stakeholders, Ladies and Gentlemen, One of the most critical ways of ensuring business continuity and growth is by allowing room for constant engagement and communication with key stakeholders. These kinds of engagements are normally executed directly or indirectly through various means but face to face interactions remain central in
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bolstering our relations. This is why we encourage these kinds of meetings with you our distinguished business stakeholders. Today’s lunch indeed comes at a time when we at the Kenya Ports Authority have made great strides in our efforts towards expansion and modernization of our facilities. Allow me to highlight some of our key achievements completed development projects/port infrastructure. First, I am proud to announce that the construction of phase I of the Second Container Terminal was successfully completed and H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta officially commissioned it two weeks ago (on Saturday, September 3, 2016). The new Container Terminal which is operational, is capable of handling fourth generation vessels of 6000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) capacity and we look forward to the positive impact this will have on your businesses and regional economies. We expect the construction of the second phase to commence in June next year. The National Assembly approved a loan of KShs.27.3 billion from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for that purpose. Besides the progress made on the Second Container Terminal, we also have other ongoing projects such as: The relocation of the Kipevu Oil Terminal, Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zones, construction of the first three Berths for Lamu Port and the modernization and expansion of the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD). On the relocation of the Kipevu Oil Terminal, detailed 3|Page
designs are already in place, prequalification process has been completed and a consultant is preparing a tender document for shortlisted bidders. The Oil Terminal will be relocated to a more suitable location to allow for expansion. The project will involve the decommissioning of the existing Kipevu Oil Terminal and the construction of an off-shore jetty near Dongo Kundu. Upon completion, the new terminal will have the capacity to berth four ships of up to 100,000 tons at once, in contrast to the current maximum of one vessel of not more than 80,000 tons, at a time.
This project, together, with the
expansion of the Pipeline capacity between Mombasa and
Eldoret, will
enhance efficiency in the sector and generally reduce costs both locally and in the region. Since you are based in Nairobi, I am sure just like us, you are keen in following the ongoing infrastructure and superstructure developments regarding the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) which upon completion will be a game changer. On our part, a crucial component of phase I of the SGR project has been the modernization and expansion of the Nairobi Inland Container Deport (ICDN) to build enough capacity to handle traffic. This is in terms of infrastructure and superstructure at the depot. This therefore means customers need to prepare their businesses and align them to the dynamics of the SGR. We are very expectant about this development because ultimately the efficiencies of the SGR will position the ICDN as a preferred point of shipment for exporters and
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importers and that is how you our esteemed stakeholders come in. The completion date for the new look depot is June 2017.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Coupled with our port expansion and modernization strategies, we have acquired modern cargo handling equipment including Rubber Tyred Gantries, Ship to Shore Gantries, Terminal Tractors, Reach Stackers and Tug Boats to improve on service delivery. At the same time most of our operations are automated. Cargo clearance documentation is now online thereby eliminating human intervention and this has
helped
prevent
fraudulent
practices,
while
improving
customer
convenience. Cargo verification has been boosted by modern scanners operated by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Our security system, the Integrated Security System (ISS), is fully automated and fitted with over 500 CCTV cameras which monitor the Port and its environs. Port access is controlled through a Biometric system for staff and port users, anti-terror barriers are fitted at the gates and all vehicles entering the port are registered with us. The gates are also fitted with number plates and optical character recognition system for all containers and vehicles 5|Page
entering or leaving the Port. We are therefore among the most secured ports not only in our continent but also globally. – (This is light of theft of containers) Port Performance Bwana CS, allow me to share with the stakeholders our port performance for the year 2015 and half of this year. The year 2015 registered a total throughput of 26.732 million tons up from 24.875 million tons handled in 2014. In container traffic, we had a growth of 6.3 percent registering 1,076,118 TEUs compared to 1,012,002 TEUs handled in 2014. Port Performance January to June 2016 The first six months of this year have witnessed an overall positive performance compared to a similar period last year. Accordingly, total cargo throughput registered a growth of 1.4 percent having handled 13.406 million tons up from 13.218 million tons handled in 2015. Container traffic registered a slight drop rate of 0.6 %, registering 527,523 TEUs compared to 530,608 TEUs registered during the same period in 2015. I wish to note that this is below the expectations of the global average growth rate of 4 percent per annum. Ladies and Gentlemen, Transhipment traffic is a key segment of cargo that any port would strive to capture. We at the Port of Mombasa have been making efforts to attract this 6|Page
business in the last few years. However, I regret to report that the performance of our transhipment traffic dropped to 260,444 tons of cargo in the first half of 2016 against 287,952 tons recorded in the corresponding period in 2015. KPA is cognizant of the decline in volumes and towards that end a multi-agency taskforce has been formed to look into ways of revamping transhipment traffic through the Port of Mombasa. I am reliably informed that the taskforce has developed an action plan on the activities to be undertaken to recapture this market niche. We expect to see a positive trend by the close of this year. On a more positive note, I am glad to report to you that the ship turnaround time at the Port has steadily improved from 3.7 days in 2015 to 3.0 days in 2016 while container dwell time has also improved from 5.3 days to 4.3 days in the same period. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, following the above developments, I am happy to announce to you that our Net Vessel performance now stands at 29.7 moves compared to 22.3 moves in 2015. Finally, let me take this opportunity to announce and invite you to a very important upcoming event in the maritime sector – The 16th Intermodal Africa 2016 Exhibition and Conference. KPA will host of this event which will be take place in Mombasa at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort & Spa from 16th to 18th November 2016. The event is organized by the Transport Events Management 7|Page
and
we
are
glad
that
the
CS,
Ministry
of
Transport,
Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development has accepted to grace the occasion as the Chief Guest. This is a maritime date that one cannot afford to miss! I wish to wind up my speech by thanking you our stakeholders and assure you of our commitment to working with you in exploring alternative means in our pursuit to become world class seaports of choice. Once again thank you for finding time to attend this function. May God bless you. Allow me to now call upon the Chairman of the KPA Board to make his remarks.
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