WALVIS BAY, 03 AUG (NAMPA) ? President Hage Geingob on Friday inaugurated the new Namibia Ports Authority?s new container terminal which was constructed at a cost of N.dollars 4.2 billion.
During his inaugural speech, the Head of State explained that the expansion of the new container terminal puts Namibia on a firm trajectory towards realising its dream of transforming into an international logistics hub.
He said Namibia is linked to neighbouring countries through the various transport corridors and must therefore strive to capitalise on this immense investment by harnessing the vast potential of the Southern African Development Community neighbours that have no immediate access to the ocean.
?We have since coined a term of ?sea linked countries?, to refer to what we previously referred to as ?landlocked countries.? The new container terminal now gives us the additional capacity to serve both local and regional requirements,? he boasted.
The container terminal will create a capacity of at least 750 000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) per annum (p.a), an increase from the 355 000 TEUs p.a previously, whilst ample space for optimisation and expansion of the initial facility exists.
The President further highlighted and commended the cruise liner berth and marina breakwater, constructed as part of this project, which he noted strengthens Namibia?s capacity to attract tourists to its shores while benefiting from the growing tourism industry.
The Namibian Leader however urged that these achievements should not be used as an excuse to sit back but instead be used to vigorously pursue and fast track the development of the Walvis Bay Waterfront, in order to further elevate the town?s attractiveness as a business and leisure destination.
?The next step is for us to immediately broaden our focus by aligning our vision to the African Union?s Agenda 2063 which strives to create the Africa We Want ? an Africa which will become an economic global powerhouse of the future,? Geingob concluded.
The state-of-the-art container terminal was constructed on 40 hectors reclaimed land, a process which countries such as Australia, Brazil, Dubai and Netherlands have also used for port expansions.
The container terminal has also added an additional 600 metres (m) of quay wall length to the existing 1800m, which will enable major rehabilitation of existing quay walls to occur with minimal disruptions to operators.
SOURCE: NAMPA - IB/EK
http://www.lelamobile.com/content/81228/Geingob-inaugurates-Namport-s-new-container-terminal/
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