The Ministry of East African Community and Regional Development has raised concern on the low number of Covid 19 tests that the country is carrying out, saying that this may reduce the competitive advantage of Mombasa port.
The Cabinet Secretary (CS) in the ministry, Adan Mohammed, asked the Miritini testing centre in Mombasa to increase the number of daily tests from 100 drivers to meet a high demand of 600 daily transit truck drivers.
Lack of sufficient tests, according to the industry stakeholders, was the main culprit of the delays the Northern Corridor has been facing since it was made mandatory for truck drivers to test for Covid 19 before they load cargo out of the port.
Mohammed also asked the Mombasa port, which runs a health facility to cater for its employees, to consider putting in place supportive infrastructure to also test Covid 19 on truck drivers.
He said this when he opened a Covid 19 sensitization programme organised by the Northern Corridor Transit Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) in Miritini yesterday.
“The number of containers leaving the Mombasa port is above 600 and I am told that the facility here can accommodate only 100 drivers per day, how does this work?” the CS posed, adding that if this problem persists, Kenya is likely to lose its competitive advantage to regional ports- Port Sudan in case of South Sudan and Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to Dar port.
He also urged the KPAS to hire more health personnel to be deployed at county government facilities. This, he said, will enable the county government to train the 600 drivers needed every day.
The cause of the low number of tests, according to Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) Chief Operations Officer has been due to insufficient human capacity at the Ministry of Health and lack of sufficient testing kits, which manifests themselves in the amount of days it is taking to have the result released.
This capacity can be enhanced by working for extra hours in Nairobi South B station, which until recently, did not have a permanently domiciled doctor. The extension of the working hours can be done from 8-5 pm and run from 8am- 8pm by having two doctors working in shifts, KTA suggests.
Gilbert Langat, Shippers Council of East Africa Chief Executive Officer recently said that the test results take long to get and with the expiry of only 14 days and delays along the Northern Corridor, by the time the drivers reach borders, the certificates are no longer valid.
The delay caused by the Covid 19 protocols adopted by various countries in the region saw the cost of transport in the region almost double.
“We also ask the government to increase tests in other stations along the corridor such as Eldoret and Mai Mahiu. If we can have about 100 tests done daily on these stations, we will progressively ease border delays,” Ireri added
The government requires the drivers to be tested 48 hours before loading cargo from various points. Covid-19 driver testing is ongoing at both the Kenya and Uganda sides of the border.
The resultant delays have led to a huge surge in cost of transport. The cost of moving transit cargo has gone up by a huge margins with Kampala recording a US $ 1000 increase, Kigali $ 1400, South Sudan US$ 2800 and US$ 2000 in Bujumbura, Langat informed a recent virtual meeting to discuss the new normal in supply chain during this period of pandemic, by Africa Logistics Properties (ALP).
Long periods in getting test results that go up to 10 days, according to Langat, are affecting truck turnaround, for instance taking up to 26 days for a return trip to a South Sudan destination.
