Dredging of CT terminal ‘top priority’ – Govan

CAPE TOWN port manager Sanjay Govan says it is imperative, in the interests of increasingly demanding container terminal users, that the facility is developed as a matter of great urgency, even at the expense of shelving the original extension plan for the time being. In conversation with FTW last week, Govan expressed misgivings over the protracted delay in environmental minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk reaching a decision on the R5 billion quayside extension. Govan disclosed that although the first report, dealing with the feasibility of an inland container terminal (as suggested initially by Van Schalkwyk) was complete, not so the study on environmental matters such as beach erosion likely to accrue if the extension project were to go ahead. Of the greatest essence is that dredging of the container terminal should proceed with all speed to allow for larger ships of the order of 6 000 TEUs, said Govan. But here, once again, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is required, delaying matters even further. “To be safe, the beach erosion report should be completed this month. We were hoping to present that and the inland study report to the minister at the end of February but there has been so much more work involved and we just want to make sure we get everything right,” says Govan. Govan still holds the view an inland container terminal is not a truly viable option from an operational and cost point of view and that the terminal quayside extension 300 metres out to sea is still first prize.