Port security system to be up and running next year

IMPLEMENTATION OF the Port of Cape Town’s overdue security system has finally got under way and it is expected to be operational by the beginning of next year. Comprising two security access entrances at Oswald Pirow Drive and South Arm, they consist of guard houses, booms, security cameras and a swipe card system, thereby putting paid to the hundreds of motorists who use the port’s main thoroughfare, Duncan Road, as a shortcut to avoid freeway hold-ups during peak hours. A security company has been appointed to handle installation of the systems. Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) port manager, Sanjay Govan, says he is not certain what the total cost will be but it will be more than the R37-million initially budgeted for. Concerns about road congestion within the port while the container terminal’s extension programme is under way are being addressed by Transnet, which will build a bridge between the port and Paarden Eiland. A consultant has been appointed to handle the brief. Port planning manager Billy Cilliers tells FTW the project, subject to an environmental impact assessment, will cost R30-million (capital already approved) and take three years to complete. Govan, quizzed on the cold store Transnet is said to be planning at E-berth, says he does not know whether or not the project is going ahead. The facility would be right alongside FPT which, until now, has been the major fruit handler in the port, albeit with severely declining volumes, “I don’t think it’s been finalised but Transnet is possibly out to capture a certain market which FPT may not be addressing. “They would not embark on such a development if they did not have a partner or market signed up.”