Work to begin soon on long-delayed Dongu Kundu Free Port

Influential playwright Samuel Beckett‘s drama “Waiting for Godot,” could easily be the best depiction of the long wait for the proposed Dongo Kundu Free Trade Port in Mombasa.

As far as the plot goes, nothing happens. Two homeless men, Vladimir and Estragon, stand under a leafless tree waiting for a savior named Godot to arrive, but he never shows up.

This happens despite numerous assurances from passersby, who keep the two vagabonds hopeful for days – until the men finally succumb to the reality that Godot will never come.

Since February 2014 when the Cabinet approved plans to build a free trade zone (FTZ) at Dongo Kundu, Kenyans have eagerly waited for the launch of the mega project – and State agencies have continued to announce numerous groundbreaking dates that never materialize.

“Ground breaking for the Dongo Kundu free economic zone is set for early next year,” the Trade and Industrialisation ministry said on October 6, 2015. This did not happen.

On Friday, the Daily Nation reported that construction of the free trade zone was likely to begin ‘soon’ following the looming completion of the project’s feasibility studies by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“Soon we shall launch the construction of the first berth of Dongo Kundu port which will be connected to the second phase of the Sh30 billion Dongo Kundu bypass,” Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director Daniel Manduku told the newspaper.

Mr Manduku, who was speaking on the sidelines of the International Association of Maritime Economists conference in Mombasa, said the government had identified 3,000 acres of land onto which to develop the free trade zone.

“The construction of berth one at Dongo Kundu port is what we shall begin with before the other projects come into force,” he said.

A free trade zone, such as the world-renowned Dubai, is a re-export gateway where goods in transit are temporarily stored to avoid customs regulations and lengthy administrative procedures that affect homebound imports.

At the onset, the Dongo Kundu Free Port will exclusively handle motor vehicle re-exports. The government estimates the facility will handle 100,000 vehicles annually.

In building a free trade zone, Kenya will join other destinations such as Dubai and Singapore whose economies ride on goods distributed to other parts of the world.

While some Kenyans are excited to hear the latest on the project, doubters believe the pronouncement will amount to nothing, seeing that various officials have made similar declarations many times before.

So here we are once again, waiting for (Godot?) Dongo Kundu Free Port.

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