Welcome support for inland dry port

As a result of the ongoing road congestion problem, some welcome support for a proposed inland dry port has been received from two sources – the Cutler Complex representing the stakeholders at the Island View oil and petrochemical complex and the eThekwini Municipality. In March the Cutler Community Liaison Forum representing all the Island View stakeholders threw its weight behind the construction of a dry port at Cato Ridge, halfway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, which it said offered a meaningful solution to the proliferation of container truck traffic in the Durban South area. The Forum has delivered a submission to the ministers of Public Enterprises and Transport respectively, arguing that port expansion of the container handling facilities should go hand in hand with the construction of a dry port and its corollary, increased rail traffic. Speaking in support of the proposed dry port, eThekwini Municipality ward councillor Cllr Duncan du Bois said this kind of endorsement, which added tangible momentum to the process needed to make the project a reality, was “most heartening”. Further encouraging support came at the end of May when a full meeting of the eThekwini Council agreed to investigate the merits of a dry port at Cato Ridge in order to make recommendations to national and provincial governments. The idea of an inland dry port near Durban is nothing new. In the late 1990s Dr Mickey Chasomeris, then an honours student in economics at the University of KZN, undertook an extensive study to assess the cost-effectiveness of having a dry port at Cato Ridge, suggesting that road vehicles carrying containers from inland should discharge their cargo of containers at the dry port instead of going on to Durban. From this terminal containers would be railed by dedicated train direct to the two Durban container terminals by means of special shuttle trains. This, he said would result in a drastic reduction of container traffic on roads within the metro, an easing of traffic congestion and an improvement in road safety as well as a lessening of road destruction caused by too many heavies using the roads. It would also improve the utilisation of the rail network into the harbour and stimulate job creation and poverty alleviation in the Cato Ridge area. New facilities for storage and consolidation or de-stuffing of cargo would develop along with various ancillary services for the maintenance of vehicles and equipment. Being close to the industrial sections of the Durban, Pinetown and Pietermaritzburg areas, the dry port could be utilised for almost all container traffic arriving and leaving the port. Another aspect for consideration is that a dry port should be considerably cheaper to build than a new container terminal within Durban harbour or the Bayhead. Suitable land at Cato Ridge has been identified and is available. There are numerous examples of dry ports in other parts of the world from which to draw experience, along with ample evidence that dry ports have been shown to work while helping to contain and reduce transport costs – perhaps the most important prerequisite facing seafreight transport into and from South Africa.