Owners of trucks plying trade on Mombasa road are staring massive losses while their drivers face loss of income in wake of new directive to move cargo through the standard gauge railway.
This follows Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Kenya Ports Authority’s (KPA) directive to have all cargo transported through SGR to the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi in a move that eliminates trucks from the lucrative trade.
“All imported cargo for delivery to Nairobi and the hinterland shall be conveyed by standard gauge railway and cleared at the inland container depot – Nairobi,” said the two agencies in the notice.
Cargo owners have also been ordered to their goods within 21 days from the date of discharge of the vessel or the consignment will be transferred to a designated customs and controlled area awaiting destruction in Accordance to the Aast African Community Customs Management Act, 2004.
Among those facing uncertainty are employees of container freight stations (cfs) and clearing and forwarding agents as well as hundreds of truckers operating across the region from the Mombasa port.
Other businesses expected to be affected in Mombasa and other towns along the busy Nairobi-Mombasa highway are as restaurants and lodgings.
KRA and KPA insist that the move is aimed at improving cargo logistics at the Mombasa port and the Nairobi Inland Container depot to increase revenue collection.
