MCCL fuel tanks in Tanzania idle
Malawi is said to be losing billions of kwacha for not using fuel tanks owned by Malawi Cargo Centre Limited (MCCL) at Mbeya and Dar es Salaam ports in Tanzania.
It has been established that the tanks have been idle for five years now.
During their trip to the ports last week, members of the Parliamentary Committee of Natural Resources and Climate Change learnt that the fuel tanks could help to save and make money for government.
For instance, the non-usage of the tanks at Mbeya contributes to high fuel cost as transporters move the commodity from Dar es Salaam to Lilongwe, a distance of about 1 500 kilometres.
“The country is losing billions of kwacha every month just because MCCL facilities in Mbeya and Dar es Salaam are not used. This is a sad development, and as a committee, we will ensure that something is done to resuscitate the tanks,” said committee’s chairperson Werani Chilenga.
Being a landlocked country, Malawi relies on its neighbours such as Mozambique and Tanzania for their ports.
Government resorted to using Tanzania as its offshore port; hence, was given land by the Tanzanian Government to enable MCCL build tanks at Mbeya and Dar es Salaam.
The committee members were also surprised to learn that Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL), a grouping of private sector firms that import fuel and government-owned National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma), are importing fuel directly from Dar es Salaam without passing through MCCL.
“The fuel tanks at MCCL are not being used and the fuel importers are using their own ways. The fuel facilities at Mbeya are just staying idle, yet the distance to Malawi is not that far as compared to Dar es Salaam,” said Chilenga.
MCCL managing director Pascal Chikaonda said it is sad that the tanks have stayed for long without being used and fear losing them.
He, however, said they are coming up with innovative ideas to resuscitate the facilities.
Chikaonda said they have tried a number of times to ensure that government makes the facilities operational but to no avail.
“The initial investment in Tanzania was for 25 years and there after the infrastructure needed attention. The weather in Dar es Salaam is harsh and this made the pipes to be rotten; hence, needed maintenance.
Chikaonda said with a nod from the Malawi Government they went into a concession agreement with Dabit, a Kenyan company, to fix the pipe at a cost of $1.4 million (K1 billion).
“Fuel is a commodity that needs to be handled with care and we decided not to lose out; hence, finding an investor to fix the facilities,” he said.
The two facilities were built to handle 450 000 tonnes of cargo but are now being expanded to handle 800 000 tonnes of carge per annum. n
