Botswana Dry Port expands its services
The Botswana Dry Port housed at Walvis Bay is going through some changes.
The Botswana Dry Port, managed by Sea Rail Botswana, is undergoing a facelift at its premises at the Port of Walvis Bay. The dry port's facilities are currently upgraded and 40 reefer plug points will be commissioned at the end of this month.
The commissioning of reefer points is in line with the dry port's vision of being a one stop shop for all its users. Reefer containers, which is a short form for refrigerated containers, are big fridges used to transport temperature controlled cargo such as fruits, meat, fish, seafood, vegetables and dairy.
For a port to have such facilities allows handling of a variety of cargo, increasing service delivery.
Dry port manager Derick Mokgatle said “the dry port is here to not only serve a wide customer base but more importantly to complement the Namibian government's efforts in becoming a logistics hub for the Southern African Development Community (SADC). All these envisaged developments came as a result of the good working relationship enjoyed by Namport and us”.
The relationship came from a agreement signed between the Namibian and Botswana governments through the Ministry of Works and Transport of Namibia in 2009.
The Botswana government in 2012 appointed Sea Rail, a subsidiary company of Botswana Railways that operates the dry port facility at the Port of Walvis Bay. The dry port offers container handling, vehicle handling and warehousing services for its clientele.
As Namibia is a member of SADC and thus in compliance to the SADC Protocol which calls for member states to work together harmoniously in achieving effective results on common problems and issues, the country entered into agreements with Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe to avail these three land-linked countries a portion of land at the Port of Walvis Bay to enable them to conduct sea-borne trade.
The Botswana Dry Port facility was established to facilitate, fast-track import and export activities within the SADC region at an estimated cost of N$50 million. The second phase will cost approximately N$30 million.
The facility at the Walvis Bay Dry Port in Namibia was opened in 2015 after an agreement between Botswana and Namibia port authorities was reached in 2009.
The dry port's 36 200 m² can handle 4 800 cars annually with its assigned 300 parking bays.
The facility offers general housing as well as the potential to develop specialised warehousing that handle a combined 80 000 tonnes. It also accommodates a container handling facility which handles 17 000 TEUs every year and is designed to have a cold storage facility with the potential to handle up to 10 000 tonnes annually.
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