Bartamaha (Mogadishu):- Somali traders are now directing their shipments to ports at least 500 km (300 miles) away from Mogadishu to bypass what they say is excessive taxation and inefficiency by the government at the port in the capital.
Importers say they would rather route their cargo through the northern coastal town of Bosasso 1,500 km away or to the rebel-held Kismayu port 500 km south, although the market where they will sell their goods is just 4 km from the Mogadishu port.
“Bosasso and Kismayu ports charge less and Mogadishu’s port takes extraordinarily high taxes. The government has no other source of revenue,” said Bare Hassan, a trader.
“Worse still, the government has said it will increase the taxes we are complaining about. We currently use these three ports but if the government insists on raising instead of lowering, I think it will have to do without our taxes.”
Traders say it costs less to move their cargo over land to Mogadishu, than to route their merchandise through its port.
The government charges $1,300 (803 pounds) for an imported luxury car in Mogadishu, while the insurgent group that rules most of southern Somalia asks for a mere $201 at the Kismayu port. A sack of sugar attracts a $1 levy in the capital but only a quarter of that in Kismayu.
Large swathes of Somalia are under the control of al Shabaab rebels, who profess loyalty to al Qaeda and are bent on toppling the Western-backed government.
The government has authority over a few patches of the capital, denying it much-needed revenue in a country torn apart by nearly two decades of anarchy.
“Most Somali traders have stopped importing cars through Mogadishu port. We use Kismayu and Bosasso ports mainly,” said Salad Elmi Ahmed, assistance manager of Hasco, one of Somalia’s largest trading and shipping companies.
“The Somali government takes high taxes and port charges, there is also poor management at the Mogadishu port. What’s worse is that there is limited access to the market at Bakara.”
Bosasso port is in the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland that has also been a major pirate base.
In addition to the taxes and port charges importers have to pay more insurance because of piracy attacks.
“Our ships sail long routes to avoid pirates but they are still hijacked,” Ahmed said.
Porters at the Mogadishu’s port said they were starting to feel the impact of reduced business.
“We do not unload as many ships as usual. Very few boats or ships come this way and there are hundreds of us so wages are falling,” Abdullahi Khalif, a porter, told Reuters.
Port officials confirmed shipments to Mogadishu had fallen drastically, but said it was as a result of piracy and drought.
An average of 60 ships and boats used to anchor at Mogadishu every month but this fell to about 40 in December.
“Prices of commercial goods have gone up because of the threat of hijacking and starving Somalis cannot afford to buy goods,” said Ahmed Abdi Kariye, deputy port manager.
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Source:- Reuters.
