September 16, 2009
Kenya urges investors to build grain handling facilities
Kenyan Transport Minister Chirau Mwakwere has urged investors to build grain handling facilities at the proposed Lamu port and other areas instead of looking to set up in the Kilindini harbor area of Mombasa port which does not have room for expansion, The Nation newspaper reports Tuesday (September 15).
Most of the investors think the government is creating a monopoly for the Grain Bulk Handlers Ltd., or GBHL, by not allowing other investors to set up grain handling facilities but the government say it is protecting the area to ensure there is no congestion at the port, the daily quotes Mwakwere as saying.
Mwakwere said no investor had a monopoly in grain handling since there were other companies that imported grains. Currently, 39 percent of grain at the Kilindini port is handled by other companies, he added.
"The government is ready to license even more than five grain handlers to invest in other areas such as Dongo Kundu and the proposed port in Lamu, where the future of maritime business lies," the daily cited Mwakwere as saying.
Last week, Mwakwere admitted to a parliamentary committee that he extended GBHL monopoly license at Kilindini harbor last year after it expired in February.
