CT gets moving on R40m security upgrade project

THE long-awaited further upgrade of security at the port of Cape Town is under way with construction of the first guardhouse, part of a R40 million project. This will certainly put paid to many motorists using the harbour’s main road as a convenient thoroughfare at peak hours, thereby avoiding the congested freeway into the Mother City. The harbour entrance in the vicinity of I and J berths in Duncan Dock, leading from Oswald Pirow Drive, is closed to all traffic. It’s the site of the first guardhouse and will be equipped with a security boom, cameras and other attendant equipment. Completion is expected by December. The next step will be to erect a further two guardhouses at Paarden Eiland and at the harbour police station. A fourth entrance, at the bottom of The Heerengracht and normally only used in emergencies, is open to port traffic, in view of the Oswald Pirow closure. Under consideration is electrifying certain quiet parts of the security perimeter, those more difficult to monitor. Sanjay Govan, Transnet National Ports Authority port manager, says he expects the upgrade to be fully operational by the end of next year. Ring fencing of the port is complete. As to the present level of port security, he says: “It has improved a lot. We receive excellent service from our service provider on top of which individual terminals have their own security.” Turning to safety, harbour master Captain Ravi Naicker, who experienced several maritime mishaps during his first month in office, says the past winter has been “quite hectic”, really testing the capacity of marine services personnel. He vowed before his first month was out that safety would be at the top of his agenda and is now able to report that progress has been made in this regard. “We are looking at the qualifications of training programmes for our staff, our programme for the qualification of pilots is in place and certain weaknesses, for example the movement of fishing vessels into the port, have been addressed. As to whether he considers Cape Town a safer security port nowadays, Naicker says there is always room for improvement.