R2.3bn for EL harbour upgrade

Tau Morwe, chief executive of the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), yesterday said the programme probably would include refurbishment of the grain elevator, reopening the Buffalo River Bridge and work to widen and deepen the port entrance.

He said work started this week to reopen the bridge within about six months. He said Transnet had undertaken to renovate some port buildings and to consider partnerships with private investors to develop unused port land.

With supporting investment from the private sector or an institution like the Public Investment Corporation, which manages state pension funds, East London could have a waterfront development along the lines of those in Cape Town and Durban.

Transnet's seven-year budget is about half the R5bn price tag to clear backlogs identified last year in a Transnet "Master Plan" revealed by the Weekend Post.

The internal report said the proposed investment could unlock significant potential in the East London harbour, but that funds were not available.

Morwe said yesterday, however, he had come to East London to hear ideas for the port and for the development of adjoining land owned by Transnet.

He briefed business, city and government representatives on the options on Monday and stayed on for follow-up discussions yesterday.

Morwe met separately with the Eastern Cape MEC for Economic Development, Mcebisi Jonas.

Nkosohlanga Mboniswa, Jonas's chief of staff, told the Daily Dispatch that a team comprising Transnet, the Buffalo City Metro and the Eastern Cape administration had been set up and given three months to propose priorities for the programme.

Morwe said it would be up to the city and province to come up with ideas and business proposals and that the TNPA would try to dovetail its own strategies with local initiatives.

"I have only been in this job for a year, but what I found when I got here was that the ports actually existed apart from the cities - with the exception of Durban.

"There wasn't any interaction. At times the cities were not even aware of the investments in the port and how they would affect the ports.

"What we are now trying to do is to say we need to work together with the city. We could for instance be doing something here in terms of increasing port volumes, but we need to understand what impact that would have on traffic on other parts of the city," he said.

Morwe said there would be a window to adjust the budget in September if East London could make a convincing case for further or faster investment.

Les Holbrook, executive director of the Border-Kei Chamber of Business, said he had been impressed by Morwe's commitment.

"We are more optimistic now than we have ever been before. Tau Morwe and his leadership team are more open to listening to us. There is a very different atmosphere," he said.

But while Morwe said improvements would be planned and funded in a rolling seven-year cycle with new projects added every year, Holbrook argued for faster implementation.

"We'll take what he is offering with open arms, but we'd like to see the time-frame for the upgrade brought down to a maximum of four years.

"The East London harbour has been ignored for too long. We need to act quickly. I don't think the port can wait seven years," he said.

Morwe and Holbrook both said the priority was likely to be the deepening of the port from the current 10.3m to at least 13m, and the widening of the entrance to accommodate bigger ships.

Morwe said Jonas had highlighted the need to refurbish or replace the grain silo, which was not yet in the budget, but could be added .

The grain silo was rescued from total closure in 2010 with a R60- million investment in basic repairs to keep it operating at about 10% of its 4-million ton annual capacity.

Morwe said reviving the grain facility would fit with the tendency to specialise the services of each South African port.

Source: Daily Dispatch