The May order by Mr Macharia was informed by the need to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
The Transport committee which met with Mr Macharia and MPs from coast region led by Abdulswamad Nassir wants the government to cut the Railway Development Levy by 0.5 percent from the current two per cent as incentive to importers or transporters of cargo using SGR.
“We are pursuing a possibility that if you use SGR to transport your cargo from Mombasa to Nairobi and beyond, you will be required to pay 1.5 percent as Railway Development Levy and not the current two percent of the value of goods.
“This levy was to promote SGR construction and importers are now promoting SGR through hauling cargo using it,” the committee said.
The inquiry team said it is considering changes to the law to ensure that all cargo imported by State agencies must be transported via the SGR.
The committee said the recommendations which will be tabled in the House will help SGR to attract business willingly rather than through government directives.
“We don’t want to force importers to use SGR but make it a choice for transporters. We want SGR to sell itself and we will be asking the government to review the tariffs to make SGR competitive,” Mr Pkosing said.
The committee wants the Transport ministry to revisit the issue of last mile connectivity of SGR and the return of empty containers to the Port of Mombasa.
“The issue of last mile, Inland Container Deport and return of containers to Mombasa should be one package and the cost should be one,” the Pokot South MP said.
Mr Nassir, who led MPs from coast region in the meeting with Mr Macharia demanded that importers be given freedom to haul their goods from the port to the final destination without restrictions from any government agency.
“Importers should be able to choose freely from a pool of transporters to haul their goods. Importers should have the freedom to nominate a Container Freight Service company of their choice to clear their goods regardless of the final destination of the goods,” Mr Nassir said.
The Mvita MP has demanded a number of ministerial statements over the directive that truck drivers pick up transit cargo from Naivasha ICD depot.
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