Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Board Chairman Hon. Benjamin Tayari has said the board will come up with strategic measures aimed at improving ferry facilities.
He made the commitment today during his orientation at the KPA Ferry Services Department.
He was conducted on a tour of the ferry facilities by the General Manager Mr. Bakari Gowa who also briefed him about plans for expansion of ferry services.
Hon. Tayari commended the ferry services team for their tireless efforts towards service delivery regardless of challenges.
“I am a permanent user of the ferry and therefore I know the challenges you face. It is now time for us to get it right and offer better services for the people,” he added.
The Chairman was informed of future ferry operations plans to include more water bodies to cover Mombasa to Diani, Lamu, Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana.
Currently ferry operations are at Likoni and Mtongwe crossing channels with over 300,000 passengers and about 6,000 cars crossing the Likoni channel daily.
Besides his today’s tour at the ferry services, the Chairman also visited the SGR marshalling yard, the Second Container Terminal, Terminal Engineering workshops, Mombasa Old Port, Floating Bridge and the New Kipevu Oil Terminal.
At the Second Container Terminal, the General Manager Cargo Operations Dr. Sudi Mwasinago told the Chairman that the Port of Mombasa with a total yard capacity of 47,000 TEUs currently handles an average of 17,000 TEUs “meaning we have a 30,000 TEUs extra yard capacity and therefore we have no issues of congestion.”
