DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian lawmakers on Monday appealed to the government to allow the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to retain 40 percent of its annual collections for improvement of other strategic harbors in the east African nation.
Members of the Parliamentary Committee for Infrastructure said the government should allow the TPA to retain 40 percent of its 117 million U.S. dollars annual collection to improve efficiency of Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Kigoma and Kalema ports.
"Almost all TPA collections are remitted to government coffers, leaving the ports authorities without funds" for its ports improvement, said Moshi Kakoso, chairman of the committee.
He was presenting in the National Assembly the committees' activity report for January 2018 to January 2019.
Kakoso said Dar es Salaam port has a number of challenges that affect its performance, including inadequate capacity to handle big vessels.
Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports required deep berths to enable big ships to dock, Kakoso told the House in the capital, Dodoma.
"Most of the infrastructures at our ports are dilapidated. We can hardly compete with Mozambique's Beira port, Durban port of South Africa and Mombasa port in Kenya," he said, adding that there is also need to improve roads to the ports.
