The imposition of charges by container storage companies in Kenya has been met with anger from clearing agents and forwarders, who say the charges have been illegally introduced in the wake of an announcement that port storage fees would be waived temporarily.
Forwarders and clearing companies along with their agents were reported to have been so rattled by the charges that they held protests at container freight stations, reports the Niarobi's East African Standard newspaper.
The row was sparked by post-election violence in the East African nation that disrupted transport links to Mombasa, and prompted the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to issue a notice saying storage charges would be waived between December 25 and January 3 for cargo that was unable to be removed from Mombasa port.
In the notice, the KPA harbour master and chief operations manager Twalib Khamis said waivers would only be granted to importers who would remove their containers from the port before January 20.
As it turns out, the storage fee waiver only applied to KPA storage facilities and not private container freight stations (CFS), the newspaper said.
Forwarders and clearing companies along with their agents were reported to have been so rattled by the charges that they held protests at container freight stations, reports the Niarobi's East African Standard newspaper.
The row was sparked by post-election violence in the East African nation that disrupted transport links to Mombasa, and prompted the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to issue a notice saying storage charges would be waived between December 25 and January 3 for cargo that was unable to be removed from Mombasa port.
In the notice, the KPA harbour master and chief operations manager Twalib Khamis said waivers would only be granted to importers who would remove their containers from the port before January 20.
As it turns out, the storage fee waiver only applied to KPA storage facilities and not private container freight stations (CFS), the newspaper said.