New Fesarta head spells out immediate objectives

The Federation of Eastern and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta) will continue to focus on the harmonisation of vehicle standards and regulations in the region, as well as registering of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on the NTB website for follow-up with the responsible authorities. That’s the word from new CEO Mike Fitzmaurice of Transport Logistics Consultants (TLC). He told FTW that while he provided the new hands at the helm of the organisation – following on the valuable contribution over the years from previous CEO Barney Curtis – the operational activity remained unchanged. But a new focus is one that is designed to ensure the future survival of the federation. “We need to achieve more stability in respect of membership,” Fitzmaurice added, “as not all members are paying.” Newly established is a corporate membership, and this has already seen Imperial Logistics coming on board. Beyond that, there is a distinct need to ensure that members benefit from their membership of Fesarta, said Fitzmaurice. “And I’ve got to use my strengths to see what I can do to help in this respect,” he added. And he certainly has been building up muscle over the years since he left school in Rhodesia, getting involved in transport straight away, and continuing when he moved down to SA. Transport and tyres were the two industry areas he concentrated on until 1999. But then he moved over to clearing and forwarding, and established his own business at the Beitbridge border post. “Our function was to monitor the movement of transport vehicles through the border post,” Fitzmaurice said. “And then I started Transport Logistics Consultants in 2004/05.” And in this role, TLC was the first company to be assigned to the Sub-Saharan African Transport Policy Programme (SSATP) for monitoring at the border posts in Africa. The World Bank sponsored this project, whose objective was to investigate ways to streamline systems at all border posts within the transport corridors of Africa. This was with a view to introducing ‘one-stop border posts’ throughout the corridors, starting with Chirundu on the Zambia/ Zimbabwe border. He now brings these skills into making sure that Fesarta going forward will be sustainable. INSERT & CAPTION I’ve got to use my strengths to ensure that members benefit from their membership of Fesarta. – Mike Fitzmaurice