Omar reconsiders regulator bill

Alan Peat THE NEXT step in approving the new National Port Authority (NPA) Bill has been delayed Ð with the national meeting (and final date for submissions) postponed from its original fix of July 18 to an as yet undecided date. This has closely followed a round-the-nation road-show organised by the Department of Transport to open the floor to final submissions from each of the regional stakeholders invited to these meets. But, Tony Norton, director at maritime specialist attorneys Garlicke & Bousfield and chairman of the National Port Users Forum (NPUF), told FTW that he hoped that this would give the authorities time to digest the comments made by the port users and hopefully amend the draft to take them into account. "Our comments are not a negative attack on the government's proposals," said Norton, "but should rather be seen as a constructive effort in the best interests of the country. "We fully understand the major constraints (both in persuading Transnet to comply with their own dissection, and labour to accept the privatisation element of the bill) facing the government." But there are a number of areas of the draft bill which do not fully reflect the intentions of the National Commercial Ports Policy (NCPP), according to NPUF, or where the legalese is considered to be too loosely worded for business or the judiciary to accurately interpret. "In order for trade and industry to operate optimally it is essential that it operates in an environment of certainty. "This principle applies not only to the users of the ports but also to the NPA. "For - if prospective tenderers are not able to calculate the value of a concession that has been put out to tender - they will either not tender at all, or at lower prices than would otherwise be achieved. "There is uncertainty in the draft Bill as it currently stands."