the container park in Rodrigues, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain information as to the measure…
(No. B/335) Mr J. Edouard (Fourth Member for Rodrigues) asked the Minister of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries whether, in regard to the container park in Rodrigues, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain information as to the measures being envisaged to address the problem of delivery of container due to lack of space thereat, indicating if he will use his good offices to request the Mauritius Ports Authority to put the site situated at the ex-slaughterhouse in the port area falling under its purview for the storage of containers.
Reply: The container yard at Port Mathurin is currently operated by the Associated Container Services Ltd which holds a lease with the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) for operating a container depot for the period ending 02 April 2030. The container yard is of 7000 m2 and has a maximum storage capacity of 300 x 20 ft containers. The average number of containers per voyage that are transported to Rodrigues is 214. However, with the increasing volume of container shipment to Rodrigues, storage constraint is being encountered at Port Mathurin. To this effect, an expansion of the storage capacity with an additional space of 7000 m2 is required to cope with the actual volume of cargo arriving at Port Mathurin. On 26 April 2024, the Mauritius Shipping Corporation Ltd (MSCL) made a request to the MPA for allocation of two plots of land adjoining the container yard for container stuffing and unstuffing, container storage and an office for MSCL. Accordingly, in August 2024, the MPA agreed to allocate the two plots of land covering a total area of 5500 m2, comprising the ex-slaughter house and the cattle pen sites, for the setting up of a container depot including its operational office. The MSCL has already launched a restrictive bidding exercise for the appointment of a consultant for the preparation of the project proposal for the container depot project in
119 respect of the two sites identified at Port Mathurin. Same will be submitted to the MPA, for consideration, as soon as the exercise is completed. MSC – CONSTITUENCY NO. 4 – SPORTS FACILITIES