HARGEISA, Somaliland, April 29, 2006 – The days when the deep-water berth of Berbera port were silent, cranes and empty white warehouses stayed idle, and dwarf and small boats discharged only paltry cargo of bananas, seem to be gone for good

Ever since the agreement with Ethiopia came into effect sometime last year and the first cargo ship docked in November, the Port of Berbera has become increasingly busy, allowing thousands of tons of shipments through to Ethiopia.

In an interview with SSI the General Manager of the port, Mr. Ali Mohamed Omar, said that the port has now increased its operations and receives huge quantities of cargo destined to both Somaliland and Ethiopia.

The GM disclosed that the port is in the process of purchasing new heavy-duty cranes that can facilitate speedy unloading of cargo. He further said that government and private companies have built modern storage facilities that will allow customers to store their consignments for forwarding.

Mr. Omar told SSI that the port has augmented its services at a fast rate to a level whereby the loading, unloading, handling and clearing and forwarding had reached record output with zero waiting time.

“We provide a ‘Pick and Go’ service, which no other port in the region provides at the moment, meaning that customers are able to pick their cargo and go the same day,” said the manager.

When asked how the Port of Berbera is different from the Port of Djibouti and how it will be successful, since the latter has many years of relations with Ethiopian businesses, Mr. Omar said, “I will not go into details but the advantages are obvious, we are much cheaper, with zero bureaucracy and speed in processing cargo clearances. We deliver cargo the next day as the ship docks at the port.”

“The heavy traffic flow through the Djibouti corridor exposes the poor condition of the transport system, particularly within Djibouti territory, which has to cope with congestion both at the Port and the corridor in each direction,” Omar added. “We in the Port of Berbera don’t have that problem.”

The Manager said that there is a continued progress going on in the operations of the port, enhancing the facilities and services day by day. The Port has now signed a deal with the World Food Program to serve as a hub for the Horn of Africa. WFP delivers food to Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

The Port also built a special depot for Ethiopian transport trackers with facilities ranging from guest rooms and a special cafeteria with a lounge fully equipped with satellite television. The Port provides free meals for drivers who come from Ethiopia for the period of their stay in Berbera.

Drivers at the Ethiopian Transport depot told SSI that they are very impressed with the services in the port of Berbera. The drivers affirmed that the facilities provided at the disposal of transporters are good and the people who work at the port area are very helpful and friendly. “The road from Ethiopia to the port of Berbera is safe and we had no problem,” said one of the drivers.

The drivers praised the Berbera Port administration for its care and handling in terms of helping transporters load their cargo in a very short time. Through the port, the first importation of vehicles was done by a company that imported and cleared seventeen vehicles this past week. “We are prepared to give unrivaled service to our Ethiopian business community,” said Omar.

Source: Sub-Saharan Informer