People, not promises, will solve truck issue

TRUCK and coal issues continue to dominate the local agenda, and rightly so.

Whether it be at cabinet, city council, or port authority level, or even at ‘garden fence’ residents’ topic of conversation, every person has an opinion.

For some, it is a financial issue; for others, a logistical concern.

The big picture is the thousands of trucks the port simply cannot accommodate and process at a rate quick enough to prevent the traffic jam spilling onto local and national roads.

The port itself – though it must shoulder much of the blame – is also a victim of the impasse.

The roads within its boundaries have long since been destroyed by the heavyweight trucks, while the dust generated by vehicles and coal handling at stockpiles and quaysides has led to office workers donning masks so as not to inhale the filth and grime.

In an effort to respond to the city’s litigation over the tremendous financial costs and staff distress, Transnet Terminals decided to no longer accept any export coal delivery that has been trucked in, other than those that are already being processed.

While this will indeed cure the traffic congestion problem on the N2 and John Ross highway, it is also deemed as ‘killing the goose that lays the golden egg’.

Of course, the financially embattled country needs increased export volumes and the related foreign exchange.

The short-term solution is to manage the trucking schedules according to only what the port can presently handle given its logistical constraints.

That has to happen at the source, where the trucks are being loaded.

The booking system must be properly controlled; and if a truck arrives that has not been booked, it must be forced to turn around.

Truck and coal owners will soon get the message.

In the long term, until the reasons for the road and port carnage are properly understood and addressed, the solution cannot be implemented.

The lack of rail access to the port must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

So too, the tardy two-year delay in getting the conveyor system rebuilt.

But the cause-and-effect scenario must also be properly unpacked.

Where did all those thousands of brand new rigs come from, that suddenly burdened our road infrastructure?

Who are the owners? And how were they informed about the millions to be made?

Who opened the floodgates for their arrival, knowing the port was not in a position to accommodate them?

The bottom line is: it is not about trucks, coal, conveyor belts, trains, and facilities.

It’s about people.

Either people who have been derelict in their oversight and executive duties, by commission or omission, or by incompetent, lazy or crooked people.

Get rid of the wrong people and start getting the permanent fix going – but it can’t be at government pace.

This industrial city was built and grew on the premise that we will have a vibrant port at the epicentre.

Privatisation of certain port operations seems to be the answer, but one that is not readily listened to.