State wants your input to establish infrastructure needs

Cargo owners to predict 5-year growth plans ALAN PEAT THE GOVERNMENT has requested SA industry to quantify what it feels it would gain in trade if a perfect SA transport/logistics infrastructure existed. According to Nolene Lossau, executive director of the SA Shippers Council, government has put together a task team in order to ascertain the actual logistics infrastructure capacity shortfalls and the potential future capacity constraints. “As per the State of the Nation address by President Thabo Mbeki in parliament this year, it has obviously realised that the major constraint on the growth of the SA economy is the lack of an efficient and internationally competitive transport infrastructure,” she told FTW. Therefore, it is now trying to: a) quantify the current shortfall in logistics capacity; b) ascertain the minimum levels of capacity required within the next five years; and c) ascertain the maximum levels of capacity required in order to fast-track growth in the economy “In order to achieve this,” said Lossau, “we have been asked to advise government what growth the cargo owners are planning to achieve in their production/physical product turnover in the next five years. Easily available “These numbers ought to be easy to provide as most companies have 5-year forecasts easily available.” The SASC has also been requested to advise what growth COULD be achieved if all of the logistics constraints were removed. “In other words,” said Lossau, “companies could make plans for the future on the assumption that the transport system in SA was 100% efficient and internationally competitive.” She accepts that these numbers may be a bit more difficult to predict. “However, it is important to show government the actual effect on the economy of the inefficient, expensive transport system that we currently have - and this effect will show up in the difference between the “actual” projected growth numbers and the “ideal” projected growth number.” This, Lossau stressed, is not purely a matter for council members - although they ship about 150-million tons of cargo a year - “but it is a critical issue, and a matter to which everybody in the freight and trade industry sectors should contribute”. She has therefore addressed an appeal to all FTW readers to complete the survey form and return it to her by September 23. For copies or information email: nolene@mweb.co.za.