The Mombasa government has identified 200 acres in Jomvu where it plans to set up a container marshaling yard to decongest the port.
A container or cargo marshaling yard is a temporary, in-transit storage area for containers and trucks.
It expedites discharge operations by facilitating rapid and continuous movement of cargo and containers to or from the port.
The yard will have capacity for more than 2,000 trucks daily and will have an advanced call system linked with the Kenya Ports Authority for efficient communication.
On Tuesday, Governor Abdulswamad Nassir discussed the yard plan with Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president Mustafa Ramadhan and Jomvu MP Badi Twalib.
Ramadhan said traffic to and from the Mombasa port is increasing by the day and this prompted Governor Nassir to come up with the marshaling yard idea.
“Basically, a marshaling yard tracks door-to-door dispatching of trucks and loading. It keeps the facility itself and the surrounding streets clear of truck traffic and maintains orderly flow,” Ramadhan said.
“If we want efficiency at the port we need to manage this.”
The county will soon advertise for the development of the yard.
“Whoever comes up with the best programme for the flow of traffic will win the tender. This is a massive investment,” Ramadhan said.
He said the idea is to increase revenue to the county government and increase efficiency at the port.
KPA is also in the process of building another marshaling yard in Malaba on the Kenya-Uganda border.
“As a chamber of commerce, we believe this is a good idea. When it is advertised we will send our investors this way. We have met several of them through different chambers. It is high time we did things more professionally,” Ramadhan said.
Twalib said the marshaling yard will provide job opportunities for the Jomvu youth and bring order to the streets and roads that lead to the Mombasa port.
The Mombasa port handles 4,000 to 5,000 containers daily, with an estimated 2,000 trucks picking and dropping containers a day.
“Instead of the trucks parking on the roadsides, causing congestion and traffic jams at times, the marshaling yard will help create a designated space where they will be stationed awaiting their time to pick or drop containers,” Twalib said.
This, he said, will create more order and help make the Mombasa port more efficient.
In Tanzania, a similar system is used but for buses in Ubungo.
“Remember, at the yard these people will need to eat, so food vendors will get jobs there. Other job opportunities like mechanical works and car wash will emerge,” Twalib said.
The MP said the potential Iranian investment in a vehicle assembly plant will be in the same area.
This is after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held talks with President William Ruto about investing in Mombasa.
“As the area MP, I thank Governor Abdulswamad for his idea and effort because this was his idea and it is in my constituency. Already, he has the go-ahead from the President,” Twalib said.
The MP said the collaboration between Governor Nassir and Ramadhan will fast-track the project.
Ramadhan was in the presidential delegation that went to the DRC to woo investors to Kenya.
Twalib said he will urge Ramadhan to look for investors in Jomvu, adding he will ensure the investors get adequate land there as an incentive.
“We want a scenario where the free port programme is enhanced in Jomvu through the marshaling yard. So when a ship arrives in Mombasa with cars, the cars are offloaded to the marshaling yard where people can buy them from there instead of going to Sharjah or Dubai,” Twalib said.