MUAROBAINI WA KUIKUZA BANDARI YA DAR ES SALAAM WAPATIKANA KTK SHARJARA ZA KIHISTORIA
MKATABA WA URUNDI-RUANDA-FREE CONGO, UBELGIJI, UINGEREZA NA UJERUMANI YA AFRIKA MASHARIKI UFUFULIWE, ili bandari ya Dar es Salaam irejee kuwa ya kimataifa. Ilianza kuwa ya kimataifa miaka ya 1921 hata kabla ya kuanzishwa iliyokuwa Jumuiya ya Afrika ya Mashariki ya Muingereza. Pia bandari za Tanzania zilikuwa za kimataifa enzi ya dola ya Seyyid Said sultani wa Dola Kubwa ya Zanzibar miaka ya 1875 iliyovumbua njia za kibiashara toka Mashariki ya DR Congo, Mwami wa Urundi-Ruanda, wazee Mirambo wa Tabora, wazee Chifu Mazengo wa Dodoma na Manyoni halafu mwaka 1921 waBelge na Waingereza wakajua umuhimu huo na kurasimisha mikataba inayovuka mipaka 1921.
Nini tunakwama 2022 wakati tuna uzoefu na kuweza kuiboresha zaidi ya kina Sultan Seyyid Said, King Leopold wa Ubelgiji na watawala wa Uingereza 1921.
Kazi kwako CEO wa TPA , Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa TRC na watendaji wakuu wa serikali ikiwemo mahusiano ya kigeni kupitia diplomasia ya uchumi nchi sasa inayofunguka ktk awamu ya sita muhimu kusoma historia hii itunufaishe sote wa maeneo haya ya sasa ya Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda na Tanzania kwa kukusanya nguvu za kibiashara na mawasiliano ya reli na bandari.
Somo hili likieleweka kote hatutakuwa tunafukuza fukuza maana, wanaostahili kushika nafasi za kimaamuzi watafanyiwa interview ya upana wao wa kuelewa bandari na reli zinatakiwa ziwezeshwe vipi, mpango kazi wa uendeshaji
Belbases - Une page oubliée du colonialisme Belge en Afrique zipate wateja wa kudumu toka Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda na Tanzania na legal framework ya kuanda mazingira hayo iwepo na mikataba kutiwa huku wadau wakiona faida ya wao kuwekeza na pia kujiwekea tume pale baadhi ya sheria zinapotungwa baadaye zisiweze kutibua azma pana ya muunganiko huu wa kiuchumi na kibiasharac n.k n.k
100 YEARS BELBASES
A FORGOTTEN PAGE OF BELGIAN COLONIALISM IN AFRICA
Belbases Convention
Extract from the Moniteur Belge n° 113 du 23.4.1921
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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CONVENTION BETWEEN BELGIUM AND GREAT BRITAIN
TO FACILITATE BELGIAN TRAFFIC THROUGH THE
TERRITORIES OF EASTERN AFRICA
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The British Government and the Belgian Government wishing, on the one hand, to give effect to the agreements in principle concluded between them, on the occasion of the common effort accomplished in Africa, after the violation of the neutrality of the Belgian Congo; taking into account, on the other hand, the special needs, from the point of view of access to the sea, of part of the Belgian Congo and of the territories whose administration has been entrusted to Belgium,
Have agreed on the following provisions :
Item 1. In the present convention, the expression "Belgian Congo" refers not only to the territories of the Belgian Congo properly speaking, but also to the territories of the former German protectorate to be administered by Belgium.
The expression "East Africa" refers, in addition to the present protectorates of Great Britain, to the territories of the former German protectorate to be administered by her.
The expression "vessel" applies to any ship or boat.
Art. 2. Great Britain undertakes to grant freedom of transit through East Africa on such routes as are or shall be most suitable for transit, whether by rail, lake, navigable river or by canal, to all persons, post, all goods and all ships, cars and wagons coming from or heading towards the Belgian Congo and, for this purpose, the crossing of territorial waters will be permitted. Such persons, post, goods, ships, carriages and wagons shall not be subject to any right of transit or to unnecessary delays or restrictions and they shall be treated, as regards taxes, facilities and all matters, on the same footing as British people, post, goods, ships, cars and wagons. Goods in transit will be exempt from all customs duties or other similar charges. All charges, in respect of carriage in transit, shall be reasonable, having regard to the conditions of the traffic, and no charge, facility or restriction shall depend, directly or indirectly, on the quality of the owner or the nationality of any vessel or any other means of transport which has been, or will have to be, used during any part of the total journey.
It is expressly understood that the term "transit charge" does not refer to the tax of 25 cents per parcel currently levied on goods in transit from East Africa; however, this tax will not be levied on goods in transit from or to the Belgian Congo passing through the locations of Kigoma and Dar-es-Salaam referred to in Article 5.
Art 3. Belgian subjects and property, and ships flying the Belgian flag shall, in all respects, be treated on a footing of perfect equality in all ports and on the inland waterways of East Africa, in such a way so that no distinction is made to the detriment of Belgian subjects, property and flag between the latter and British subjects, property and flag.
No other impediments to the movement of persons and buildings shall be introduced other than those resulting from the provisions relating to the police, customs, health requirements, emigration or immigration, and the import or the export of prohibited goods. These reasonable and uniform provisions shall not unnecessarily impede traffic.
Art 4. Travelers, mail and goods from or to the Belgian Congo shall automatically benefit, on the railways and shipping lines of East Africa linking or able to link the Belgian Congo to the sea, from the point of view of taxes to be collected (taking into account all discounts and bonuses), facilities and, in all other respects, the most favorable system applied to travellers, to the post office, as well as to goods of the same nature or same class transported on the respective lines of East Africa, either in internal traffic, or on import, export or in transit, under similar conditions of transport, in particular from the point of view of the length of the journey.
It is understood that fares on the line from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigoma will never be unreasonably high to divert traffic between the Belgian Congo and the Indian Ocean from the port of Dar-es-Salaam.
At the request of the Belgian state, combined rates may be created between any point in the Belgian Congo on the one hand, the ports listed in article 5, as well as the places of destination and overseas origins , on the other hand. To this end, the Belgian and British Administrators will endeavor to conclude agreements with a view to combining the railway tariffs with the tariffs of the Belgian navigation services which may serve the said ports.
Any advantages which may be accorded by the railways to a British navigation service serving the said ports shall be extended, as of right, to the Belgian navigation services.
The Belgian state will be able to circulate on the Kigoma - Dar-es-Salaam route its own wagons for the transport of goods between the Belgian Congo and the sea. The conditions which these wagons must meet from the point of view of conditioning, weight, dimensions, brakes, etc., will be fixed by the British Authority, the Belgian Authority being consulted beforehand.
In the event that the general classification of goods adopted by a railway or a shipping line in East Africa does not mention certain products originating from or destined for the Belgian Congo, these products will, from the point of view of the application tariffs, treated by assimilation and placed as far as possible in the category of the most similar products.
Art 5. In order to facilitate the access of the Belgian Congo to the sea, the British Government will lease, in perpetuity, to the Belgian Government, in return for an annual fee of fr. 1, locations in the ports of Dar-es-Salaam and Kigoma.
The extent of these locations will be determined taking into account the probable increase in traffic with the Belgian Congo.
Commissioners will be designated on both sides, with a view to the choice and delimitation of these sites.
The sites will be chosen in such a way:
1° To present a sufficient berthing front in deep water
2° To be able to be easily connected to the railway
3° To allow the construction under favorable conditions of the maritime installations envisaged in the following article .
If necessary, the British Government will extend to the main railway line the connections existing or to be established on these sites.
Art 6. The sites shall remain subject to the laws and general regulations enacted by the competent British Authority, and British officials and agents shall have free access thereto, with a view to maintaining order and applying these laws and regulations. regulations. The Belgian Authorities may carry out any work on the sites and carry out any installations that they deem useful for the development of traffic. However, the plans for works which may affect the regime of the navigable passes or the circulation of vessels shall be drawn up by mutual agreement between the two Governments.
Buildings erected on the sites, in particular for staff accommodation, must meet the requirements of British building and health regulations. Dwellings will be subject to ordinary municipal taxes.
The commercial operation of the pitches is entrusted to the Belgian Government. The tariffs for the use of these sites and their installations will not be lower than the tariffs of the surplus of the port. It is understood that in principle they will be reasonable, having regard to the expenses for the initial establishment, improvement, maintenance and administration of the sites.
In the application of these tariffs, no distinction shall be made between the nationals of the High Contracting Parties and those of other Powers admitted to the benefit of national treatment, either by reason of the nationality of the persons, or by reason of the origin or the destination of the goods.
The Belgian Government may entrust the operation to concessionaires to be designated by it. However, these concessionaires must be approved by the British government, and the duration of the concession may not exceed twenty-five years.
Art 7. On entering and leaving ports, ships calling at the above-mentioned locations must comply with the port police regulations and the orders of the British authorities.
Art 8. Subject to complying with the regulations governing the use of these installations, the ships, calling at the sites, will have access to slips, and dry docks of the surplus of the two ports; the same will apply to floating equipment assigned to the operation of the sites, such as lighters, tugs, tankers, etc.
Art 9. In the above locations, which can only be used for the traffic of goods in transit from or to the Belgian Congo, and not for the traffic of goods from or to East Africa, the British Customs Authorities will not be involved and the goods may not be subject to any duty or tax other than a statistical duty of one thousandth ad valorem at most, which will be collected by the Belgian authorities and assigned to cover the costs of the service responsible for establish the statistics of the trade and the movement of the Belgian location.
Art 10. On the railway between Kigoma and Dar-es-Salaam, wagons in transit between the sea and the Belgian Congo which will have been sealed by Belgian agents, in a manner to be agreed between the competent Administrations of the two countries , will be exempt from any British customs formalities.
The British Customs Authorities shall have the right to be represented at the sealing operations.
Art 11. The British Government will simplify, as far as possible, customs formalities with regard to goods in transit from or to the Belgian Congo via Kigoma and Dar-es-Salaam which do not pass through the locations referred to in the preceding articles.
Under the conditions to be determined between the competent British and Belgian Administrations, the transit of these goods will not be subject by British customs to consignments, sureties or other financial guarantees.
Art 12. In general, the British Government will ensure that Belgian traffic in East Africa is provided with the greatest possible facilities.
In witness whereof the undersigned have signed this Agreement and have affixed thereto their seals.
Done in duplicate at London, March 15, 1921
Baron Moncheur
Curzon of Kedleston
Certified by the Secretary General
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The management of the former Belgian sites of Dar es Salaam and Kigoma is governed by:
- The 1934 agreement between the East African Agency and the Belgian colonial government on the management of the sites, with instructions first from Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, then in 1971 from Tanzania to continue to manage their account "as in the past".
- The 1981 agreement between AMI Tanzania Ltd. and THA (Tanzania Harbors Authority) for handling goods in transit to and from Congo, Rwanda and Burundi at the port of Dar es Salaam.
Below, I share some comments and recommendations that I expressed as Managing Director and which I shared at the time with the board of directors of the company AMI(T).
January 1, 1966, the income from the sites remained with AMI (EA) in Dar es Salaam, pending the instructions of the different countries (Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania) on the distribution of income.
These sums were not deposited in an interest-bearing account; they were "at the immediate disposal of the beneficiaries".
Due to the high inflation of the Tanzanian shilling between 1970 and 1994 (an average of almost 25% per year), large amounts simply "evaporated" over the years. |
1981 Convention
Article 8 states:
AMI(T) may request THA to carry out maintenance of the cranes on site |
Throughout the period maintenance was reactive/curative, no proactive maintenance schedule was ever put in place. In October 1994, the THA announced that the cranes at the site in Dar es Salaam could no longer be repaired.
Worn equipment (from the Ministry of Transport but also AMI's own) was very difficult to maintain due to its advanced age, the unsuitable surface on which they operated and the carelessness of most drivers.
The absence of an investment plan since the nationalization in 1971 has left the sites with a totally amortized and obsolete fleet of equipment. The Ministry of Transport, as owner, has not renewed its operational equipment due to lack of financial means.
AMI(T) had to acquire its own handling equipment to make up for the shortage, but this had a major impact on operating results. |
| Article 15 states: THA provides AMI with all the pallets necessary for its handling, provided that AMI delivers 1250 pallets / quarter to THA |
This is a minor point in all historical context, but with the traffic losses in the 1990s, having to deliver 5,000 pallets to THA represented a significant annual cost of USD 150,000 for the concession.
In 1994, the traffic of goods had dropped so much, with 30,000 T of imports and 20,000 T of freight exported by the Dar es Salaam site. These costs now amounted to a surcharge of USD 3/ton, which was enormous, diverting even more traffic via road transport (non-concession) or via the port of Mombasa.
This accelerated the end of the concession |
1991 - Exit Strategy
AMI Tanzania organizes a meeting with the Ministry of Transport and Communications to discuss the future of the old “Belbases”.
This should lead to draft agreements between:
- AMI(T) and THA (Tanzanian Harbors Authority) for the takeover of the Dar es Salaam site and
- AMI(T) and TRC (Tanzanian Railways Corporation) for the takeover of the Kigoma site
The agreements must contain the following points:
- Current and future assets
- Operational functions
- Commercial aspects
- Administrative aspects (accounting, etc.)
- The duration of the new agreement
As a deadline for finalizing the agreement the parties propose January 1992.
[14]
1993 - Delays
Negotiations are going well, but progress is slow.
AMI Tanzania is not rushing the other parties, it is meanwhile looking for a location outside the port to continue its transit activities.
On May 12, 1993, the Ministry of Transport and Communication declares that the transfer of the "former Belgian sites" is postponed until August 1993; before that date, AMI(T) must split its activities into “port management” (Site Management) and “shipping” (Clearing & Forwarding).
[15] But in August the transfer will be postponed again
1994 - AMI leaves port
AMI Tanzania finally obtains a 99-year land lease outside the port area and begins the construction of a new modern warehouse with offices to relocate its shipping activities.
Due to ongoing unrest in the Congo and Rwanda, traffic to and from the former colonies has completely collapsed. Company shifts to food aid program logistics (to northern Tanzania) and shipping business to Malawi and Zambia
1995 - The End
74 years after their creation, the East African transit sites to Congo, Rwanda and Burundi cease to exist. The Tanzanian port authorities take over the management of quays 1, 2 and 3 of the port of Dar es Salaam.
The Tanzanian railway company takes over the management of the port of Kigoma.
But in theory, these Belbases still exist, because the four countries Tanzania, Burundi, Congo and Rwanda have not yet been able to agree on a compensation agreement for the takeover of the installations.
Source : Belbases - Une page oubliée du colonialisme Belge en Afrique