East African Cables decries steep costs on SGR use

Electrical wires manufacturer East African Cables has urged a review of runaway last mile transport costs for goods collected from Nairobi Inland Container depot (ICD).

Chief Executive Paul Muigai said the transport costs from the Embakasi-based ICD yard to the listed firm’s Industrial Area yard cost Sh30,000 per trip with Kenya Railways receiving Sh70,000 for the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) freight service.

“This is Sh100,000 while long distance cargo trucks charge Sh90,000 from Mombasa Port to our yard in Nairobi. While SGR freight service is good due to efficiency and time turnaround, all the gains made are wiped out by the last mile costs,” he said. Similar complaints have also been made by other Nairobi-based and upcountry manufacturers that have been forced to pay hefty storage charges to private Container Freight Service operators near Nairobi ICD owing to lengthy cargo clearance processes.

The Kenya Truck Association has also warned that increased use of SGR risked hurting the freight forwarding and transport businesses that employs hundreds of workers living in Mombasa.

Transport Secretary James Macharia recently suspended the planned August 7 implementation of a directive that all cargo be hauled by SGR to Nairobi after importers, truck operators and Coast-based Container Freight Service Operators cried foul.