03 Nov 2016

Botswana Dry Port manager, Mr Derrick Mokgatle, says the Botswana port in Namibia leased to government is fully operational and functional.

In an interview, Mr Mokgatle said despite some on-going developments, the port was now operational with an administrative.

He said the first phase of the port development was complete, consisting of infrastructure being fencing of the plot of 36 000 square meters leased from Namibian government, which included paving as well as the development of administrative wing.

He explained that they were on the verge of starting the second phase of the development; where he noted they would be putting up warehouses for equipment coming in through containers as well as de- containerising equipment into the warehouse to be picked up by trucks.

He said they were looking into possibility of specialised warehouses, where items such as grain could be stored for human consumption as well as livestock feed.

He noted that such specialised warehouses required certain upkeep such as good ventilation with regard to the commodities stored in.

 Mr Mokgatle stated that they were also looking into the possibility of having cold storage warehouse; saying their target is Botswana Meat Commission as their client.

He however said a cold storage would be built ideally for beef export out of Botswana as well as fish import into Botswana from Namibia. He said they want to integrate the storage so that it can host both meat and fish.

In addition, Mr Mokgatle indicated that the port currently provided for container and car handling, adding that they receive close to 100 vehicles per month into the port from UK with 300 parking base in the port.

He added that the biggest number of cars were for the Zambian and Zimbabwean market while only a small number was for Botswana.

Initially after finishing the infrastructure of the port, Mr Mokgatle explained that there were issues of Environmental Impact Assessment for the operational phase of the port.

One of the conditions was for them to accomplish the noise barrier around the area because of its proximity to the residential area.

He stated that negotiations were completed in February this year for a waiver to be lifted between the Namibian and Botswana government; adding that they were now fully operational as the waiver has been lifted.

Talking about the benefits of the port to Batswana, Mr Mokgatle said they boast of security and safety which he said was an important factor for bringing in cargo; also the Trans Kalahari Corridor as a route which he stated was safe and secure with less incidences of theft.

He also said the port had a cheaper proximity to the west and European market; but noted that the route could also be effective for the east as the main goal was efficiency, safety and security of clients’ goods when using the dry port in Walvis Bay.

Mr Mokgatle noted that there was surplus capacity in the dry port which was underutilised; adding that this could be efficient to Batswana in terms of movement of goods without any congestion as compared to the traditional route of Durban.

He said Batswana could benefit greatly from the ample capacity at the dry port, adding that the dry port improved the trade efficiency of Botswana with costs being brought down and alternatively risks being reduced. ENDS