KwaZulu-Natal’s Finance MEC Francois Rodgers has undertaken to escalate calls for relief on Umbilo’s Sydney Road in eThekwini amid worsening truck congestion near the port precinct.
This comes after Rodgers met recently with the Umbilo Business Association (UBA) chairperson, Doran Subiah, policy director, Ian Campbell-Gillies, and legal adviser and policy strategist, Nontokozo Mpanza-Seme, to discuss their concerns about the ongoing truck congestion that is affecting businesses and investment in the area.
At the meeting, Subiah highlighted the organisation’s public-private partnership proposal, which is focused on revitalising the Umbilo business precinct to create a thriving entrepreneurial and residential community.
“The UBA precinct area is the third largest contributor to the GDP of eThekwini, but unfortunately investment into the local infrastructure has been wanting over the years,” said Subiah.
The UBA’s proposal, which emanates from a recently concluded logistics study, is focused on preserving the local road infrastructure, recovery of the economic viability of Umbilo, crime reduction and establishing a private-public partnership to safeguard local business and community activities.
The report, ‘Logistics Study for the Proposed Alan Paton Road Truck Staging Area in Umbilo’, states: “It appears that the manner in which businesses have developed in the Sydney Road area has been directed, unexpectedly, by clustering market forces resulting in the concentration of large logistics operations... The result is that Sydney Road is almost unrecognisable from its appearance ten years ago.
“The sectoral direction of development shows little sign of abating, despite the fact that the road infrastructure is inadequate to be able to deal with the current demands being made on it.”
The UBA pointed out that the number of trucks, many of them super links or tri-axles, that enter the area daily cannot be unloaded or loaded quickly enough at the receiving sites to prevent illegal parking along Sydney Road and in other streets.
Rodgers said the proposed public-private partnership would be a unique opportunity to revitalise the area.
“This will ultimately create jobs and stimulate investment as well as ensure that the area is thriving.”
Rodgers undertook to discuss the proposal within government structures in a bid to secure assistance for the organisation.
Subiah said she was optimistic that the proposal would gain government support. “The meeting was most encouraging and positive for our precinct. There was a distinct synergy in our approaches to the solutions that will alleviate the challenges we face and ensure sustainable economic growth.”
