THE Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) has said that cargo at the port of Dar es Salaam has increased from 7,151 containers in April to 20,151 in July this year.

The increase is said to be caused by the huge investment made by DP World in the port of Dar es Salaam worth approximately $250 million for the operation of piers 0-7.

This was said yesterday in Dar es Salaam by the Operations and Coordination Manager of TPA, Josephat Lukindo, when presenting a brief report on the performance of the port to the Secretary of Ideology and Propaganda of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Amos Makala, during his visit to the port.

He said the money was used to improve the port's performance in three areas after it was handed over to the port authority in April of this year.

"With the experience we have in the operation of the port, we decided to start with the improvement of three important areas to increase efficiency," said Lukindo.

He said that in the first part, the DP World through the DP World Dar es Salaam subsidiary company established to manage the port made purchases of modern machinery.

He said that it repaired the faulty machines that were being used at the port and made purchases of new equipment including 20 tractors for carrying cargo as well as 31 trailers, seven generators with a size of 10,000 KV each to run the machines when there is a power cut and equipment for carrying heavy goods ( cranes).

"DP World installed modern IT systems for the operation of the port because we initially found systems that are outdated and decided to keep modern systems in line with the development of technology," he said.

He said that the investment in modern systems has resulted in great efficiency within three months which contributed to the increase in the container cargo which is equivalent to an increase of 18.2 percent.

"This investment will make the Port of Dar es Salaam competitive with other large ports in Africa, including Morocco," he said.

Speaking at the port, Makalla praised the performance of the TPA and was pleased with the success, explaining that it was a good testimony for those who were against the DP World investment.

"There are people who oppose everything, even when the government bought airplanes, they also opposed and strangely enough, they are enjoying boarding those airplanes right now," said Makala, adding that others opposed the investment of the standard gauge railways (SGR)  and even the construction of the Julius Nyerere Hydro Powe Project (JNHPP)  to generate electricity.

He said CCM supports the government for the investment in all important areas including the port as part of the implementation of the CCM manifesto.

"We are on a visit to various investment projects implemented by the government, including the Port of Dar es Salaam, and we are very pleased with the progress we have seen," he said.

The Deputy Director of TPA, Juma Kijavara said that the success achieved within a short period of investment by DP World was due to the various measures taken to increase operational efficiency and attract more local and foreign traders.

"The port of Dar es Salaam will be able to compete with other ports in the world by providing better and faster services due to the large investment that has been made," said Kijavara.