Owing to such illegal entry points the tax authority has not been able to reach its set targets in revenue collection, with a sizable chunk being lost through such ‘panya’ routes.

Minister for Works, Transport and Communication Isack Kamwele revealed the shocking number of illegal ports and airstrips on Friday when he was on a familialisation tour of TPA and Dar es Salaam port where he held a meeting with the port’s management.

He said a survey conducted by TPA identified 134 illegal entry ports on lake shores and the shores of the Indian Ocean while 58 airstrips were found to be operating while unregistered.

He said Kibirizi port, which was operating illegally in Kigoma municipality, was said to have collected revenues totaling Sh40m a month when TPA decided to post its staff to oversee it.

The porous entry points which have been identified by the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) are believed to be operating 24/7. They exist on the shores of the Indian Ocean and the shores of inland lakes such as Tanganyika and Nyasa which border neigbouring countries.

Some of the items shipped in through the illicit entry points include sugar, cooking oil, cement, timber, minerals and many other items which contribute to the killing of local industries owing to dumping.

“These funds were formally being pocketed by individuals. If one porous port can generate Sh40m a month in revenue, how about 133 other ports located in various parts of the country?” the minister queried.

He said the government was currently reviewing the law to enable all these porous ports to be formalised and be placed under one umbrella for easy collection of government revenue.

“We want to monitor them and this will scale up revenue collection and speed up development in the country,” he said.

The minister said if the formalization process is achieved the country will be able to reach its 75 per cent of the missed revenue target.

In another development, the minister Deusdedit Kakoko as TPA director general, having been in acting capacity for almost a year now.

He said the promotion followed a commendable job and remarkable success the port had achieved under his leadership.

For his part, Kakoko said despite some challenges which include competition and storage fee charges, TPA’s vision was to improve services in order to increase revenues.

TPA has been engaged in implementing some mega projects including deepening of the harbour to allow bigger ships to dock.

He said this will also reduce the cost charged to ship operators for docking time as they awaited to load offload and offload cargo at the port.

“It is our hope that further remarkable success will be achieved when all these projects are completed,” he said.

Tanzania’s major ports include Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Tanga. TPA however also oversees some other small ports along the Indian Ocean including Kilwa, Lindi, Pangani and Bagamoyo.

On Lake Victoria formal ports include Mwanza, Kemondo, Bukoba, Nansio and Musoma while on Lake Tanganyika they are Kigoma, Kasanga and Kibirizi.

Source IPP Media

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