KPA goes back to the drawing board

The disputed plan was drawn up by a Dutch company in 2003/04, and included proposals to build a second Mombasa container terminal at Kipevu by 2020. The terminal would consist of three berths along a 900 m quay built on reclaimed land. It would have an annual capacity of 1.2m teu and would be capable of handling deep-draught vessels.

However, merchants in Mombasa say that the port should focus on improving its existing facilities, such as road and rail access to the port and parking, before embarking on large-scale developments. They also say that both the existing terminal and facilities inland should be upgraded to handle existing volumes arriving off bigger ships more efficiently. If this is not done, they claim, Mombasa will continue to face congestion problems.

The KPA is expected to commission the dredging of the Likoni Channel later this year. Construction of the second container terminal is scheduled to commence soon afterwards, with finance coming via loans from a Japanese bank sponsored by the Japanese government.