Cabinet approval expected by
end February
Exclusive by Alan Peat
THE NATIONAL Commercial Ports Policy should be fired-up and ready to go by the end of this month (February), said Grace Senyatsi, Department of Transport (DoT) adviser on freight and transport policy, in an exclusive statement to FTW.
And this has met with a round of applause from private sector bodies who supported the concept of fast-tracking the policy into its final shape, suggesting that it should be implemented without any further delay.
The Senyatsi statement confirms hints that had already been given to the private sector - that the DoT shared their sense of urgency.
At the time of writing, submissions had been made by the relevant bodies to the DoT on the second draft of the White Paper, and these had then been studied by the departmental steering committee.
Following this, the final draft was to go before the oversight committee, then through an inter-ministerial (Transport, Public Affairs and Trade & Industry) meeting, and finally to cabinet for signing.
"Our target is end-February for the document to be approved by the cabinet," said Senyatsi.
Immediately following this, the relevant legislation to enact the policy needs to be finalised - and this, Senyatsi revealed to FTW, has already been drafted.
"This legislative draft will go out for comment once the policy has been approved by the cabinet," she said.
