Durbanites lobby for immediate approval of port plans

DURBAN MUST push for an immediate acceptance of the four-phased port expansion being proposed by Portnet, says Alex Hamilton, MPP and chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic affairs and tourism.
Hamilton pointed out that the Centre for Development Enterprise had recently identified the Durban area as being the most suited base for this country's global trade. He said he could not overemphasise the need for immediate expansion to take place, including the proposed 206 and 207 berths that are awaiting approval from the Transnet Board.
Durban is already experiencing a capacity crisis and without this short-term expansion there will be enormous pressures to establish terminals elsewhere, he said. The expansion of Durban harbour as the container port was essential to KwaZulu Natal's future as a province, while the opportunity to build a new number two port because of the relocation of the existing airport to La Mercy was a unique opportunity that would not present itself again.
In an obvious reference to proposed developments in the Eastern Cape, Hamilton suggested there should only be one intercontinental container transhipment port and one general bulk port in South Africa. He pointed out that Durban was already handling more than two-thirds of the country's container traffic and that Richards Bay was an established world-class bulk cargo port that had acted as a magnet in attracting major heavy industrial undertakings.
The country had to resist any temptation to establish multiple container ports, as this would affect its ability to be competitive.
In the end, he said, simple economics should be the deciding factor. This was no matter how tempting politicians might find it to fall into the old trap of thinking that they only had to develop major infrastructure projects for business to follow.
Welcoming the views expressed by Hamilton, port manager Bax Nomvete called on KwaZulu Natal residents to lobby central government planners on the need for right decisions on the future of Durban and RB to be made.
BY TERRY HUTSON