Shippers give draft the thumbs up

AS THE SA Shippers Council readied itself for the final meeting with the Department of Transport on the National Commercial Ports Policy it expressed itself “very impressed” with the second draft, according to executive director, Nolene Lossau. After a detailed study, the council is more than pleased at the inclusion of a number of its recommendations from the first draft. “We’ve definitely made some major ground here,” said Lossau. “It’s as I said after my first cursory reading - the authorities and the cargo owners are no longer at loggerheads. We both now seem to be working with the same goal in mind - cost-efficient working of the ports.” Not that it’s completely hunky-dory yet, she added. “There are still one or two items that are considered to be problematic,” she told FTW. These are primarily the lack of detail of the structure and membership of the eventual port control bodies; the extent of the privatisation (described as “concessioning” by government) procedure; and the time-span surrounding this tendering process. “But,” said Lossau, “we actually feel that our voices will be heard this time, and we are very pleased by this co-operative stance by government.”