North South corridor secretariat hits another road block

After more than two years of talks, consensus has still not been reached on the establishment of a management institution for the North South Corridor. With funding of the corridor secretariat initially the big bone of contention, South Africa has now questioned whether a management institution is necessary at all saying the existing institutions in place between member states could be used instead. This has resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the parties still not being signed. According to Barney Curtis, executive director of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), who attended the latest meeting held late last year in Zimbabwe, funding of the secretariat has been the biggest issue to date with parties unable to come to an agreement over how to fund it as consensus could not be reached on the user-pay principle. “After meetings held in June 2011 and May 2012 South Africa was tasked with revisiting the wording of the MoU that was supposed to be finalised at the Zimbabwe meeting,” he told FTW. While South Africa did table a revised MoU, it now questions the necessity of a management institution altogether. According to Curtis, South Africa does not want the private sector to be part of the structure. Fesarta, however, believes the private sector should be involved at a technical level at least, in accordance with the SADC Protocol on Transport Communications and Meteorology. “There was considerable debate as to whether the meeting should debate only the outstanding item, the funding of the secretariat, or the whole issue of South Africa’s revised MoU,” said Curtis. With South Africa maintaining that SADC should be the secretariat of the corridors, the entire matter remains unresolved. “As consensus could once again not be achieved another meeting has been scheduled for April this year,” said Curtis. In the meantime the revised MoU, which was supposed to have been finalised in 2012, will now be sent to SADC for a final decision. South Africa meanwhile remains at liberty to send its submission to SADC and explain why it feels no secretariat is necessary. It is unclear if South Africa will be making a submission in this regard. Curtis said parties were in agreement, however, that the final MoU should be signed at the next meeting in April this year. CAPTION Barney Curtis ... ‘Private sector should be involved at a technical level at least.’