Stakeholders to debate control point issue

A meeting was diarised for this week between the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and port users in the Durban Port Committee (DPC), to further discuss the contentious problem of the new control point in Langeberg Road, which eventually leads to the Durban container terminal (DCT). Durban port users were up in arms about the plans for the control point – with a primary complaint being that the TNPA didn’t bother to consult with anyone before this decision was taken, and even started to be put into practice. The container truckers’ body, the Durban Harbour Carriers Association (DHCA), described it as “a badly thought-out scheme”. According to Peter Lewin of MSC Depots and representing the depot industry in the DPC, the location of the control is under question. It is situated some way from the direct entrance to the DCT, and a large number of other freight businesses – like SACD, Freightmax, Unitainer, Grindrod, and MSC – and recreational clubs use the Langeberg Road for access to their premises. “The purpose behind the control point,” Lewin told FTW, “was to comply with the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) code – a comprehensive set of measures to enhance the security of ships and port facilities. “It demands that you must have a check-point at the entry to port facilities, but there is no reason for such a control to interfere with a public road.” Lewin suggested that an ideal site would be the A check at the DCT, which has a large parking area, part of which could be demarcated as a staging area for trucks being checked, and would avoid the congestion that is sure to occur at the present control point at the old customs gates on Langeberg Road. “But we are quite positive about solving the issue because of the meeting arranged for this week,” he said. “Our basic purpose is to avoid further congestion in an area already notorious for lengthy delays, and not to worsen it.”