Location
The inland port is located on 250 acres (100 ha) in the town of Malaba, Uganda, close to the border with Kenya. This location is approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi), by road, east of the town of Tororo, on the Tororo-Eldoret Highway. The approximate coordinates of the inland port are:00 39 00N, 34 15 00E (Latitude:0.6500; Longitude:34.2500). The coordinates are approximate, because the port does not yet show up on most publicly available maps, as of November 2010.
Overview
Tororo Inland Port is a dry inland port under construction by Great Lakes Ports Limited of Kenya, who own the port and will operate it when completed. The port will serve as a storage area for containers of imports destined for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan and Eastern DRC. The port will replace the ten or so storage facilities used by Uganda, to store these containers prior to the clearance of customs and other importation procedures. It is expected that this will greatly decongest the port at Kilindini, Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean, and cut down the time it takes for a container on a ship in Mombasa to arrive in Tororo, from eighteen (18) days to only five (5).
History
Construction of the inland port was commissioned in June 2010 by Yoweri Museveni, the President of Uganda. The port is expected to be ready to commence business in November 2012. Construction is expected to cost US$120 million.