TANZANIA: ISPS CODE DEMARCHE DELIVERED

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000122 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT AF/E FOR JLIDDLE LONDON FOR IMO LIAISON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EWWT ECON ETRD KHLS PTER PREL TZ SUBJECT: TANZANIA: ISPS CODE DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 1057 ¶1. (SBU) A/DCM and Poloff delivered ref demarche to MFA Europe and Americas Director Radhia Msuya Feb. 10 and explained the 90 day deadline for Tanzanian ports to comply with the ISPS code. Msuya did not have a substantive response, but remarked that if the U.S. were to provide funding, the GOT would be sure to take the necessary action. We explained that the U.S. sought only to ensure that Tanzania met its current obligations, not additional requirements. ¶2. (SBU) On February 16, Zanzibar Affairs Officer and Specialist met with Stonetown Port Captain Mustafa Jumbe and delivered reftel points. Jumbe had met with visiting Coast Guard officers during their last inspection visit and was aware of the issue. Since that visit, the port had hired guards and made some of the recommended changes. On the guards, some more work still needed to be done in terms of hiring better caliber officers, establishing training procedures and buying more uniforms. However, the biggest item remaining had to do with securing the main port from the public dhow area. Jumbe said there were five different cooperatives he had to negotiate with, and it was a tricky political situation. There were also Zanzibari vs. Union of Tanzania funding issues to navigate. The port was Zanzibar's main tie to the world, so he said the government was serious about the issue. ¶3. (SBU) CDA and Poloff met Feb. 23 with Minister of Infrastructure Development Shukuru Kawambwa to ensure that the message reached the relevant ministry. The Minister and his staff were aware of the issue but had not received a formal notification from MFA. Kawambwa said he understood the need for action before the deadline and would task the appropriate officials to respond. Assistant Director of Maritime Transport Fungafunga said that the Tanzania Port Authority had already taken some steps based on the informal readout from U.S. Coast Guard visitors who inspected the ports in July 2007. He said fencing deficiencies had been rectified at all mainland ports. The port of Dar es Salaam, which handles the vast majority of Tanzanian exports, now had 24-hour police patrols, and a World Bank-funded tender had been issued for closed-circuit TV. In addition, Dar es Salaam port staff would attend a training session in advance of ISPS Code training to be given by Coast Guard experts the week of March ¶3. Zanzibar Port Captain Jumbe later confirmed that he would also attend the session. ¶4. (U) Comment: The autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar has a highly complicated relationship with the central government based on the mainland. Even sectors that are formally under central government control, such as ports, are effectively under the administration of Zanzibar officials. Most Zanzibaris perceive the relationship as one of two separate nations that have agreed to some strictly limited pooling of sovereignties. We recommend that the U.S. Coast Guard differentiate between mainland ports on the one hand and Zanzibar ports on the other, since they are effectively under two different managements. For Tanzania as a whole, about 95 percent of all international cargo goes through the mainland port of Dar es Salaam. ANDRE