MEDIA ALERT

MEC BHEKI CELE AND MINISTER JEFF RADEBE LAUNCH FREIGHT TRANSPORT POLICY

The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, safety and security Mr Bheki Cele and the national minister of Transport Mr Jeff Radebe will be officially launching the KwaZulu-Natal white paper on freight transport policy at Golden Horse Casino in Pietermaritzburg at 9am tomorrow (29/10/2004). 

KwaZulu-Natal is the first province in the country to produce a white paper on freight policy which defines the role of the province in the application of the National Freight Transport Policy. 

As the province handles almost 80% of South African import-export cargo through the ports of Durban and Richards Bay, the policy will go a long way towards ensuring the continued ability of the KwaZulu-Natal freight corridors to serve the needs of the province, the country and the region. 

It will also create, among other things, sustainable freight transport systems through modal and intermodal optimisation, regulation and the provision of adequate facilities and supportive human resource development. 

The white paper has also identified various areas that are important in the development and sustainable of freight industry in KwaZulu-Natal which areas are:

• Infrastructure development for all modes of transport

• Management, control and operations within the freight industry

• Coordination of various government institutions involved in planning and development-it is envisaged that this could result in the creation of small business opportunities.

• Establishment of coordinative and consultative structures for the integration of planning and management of all aspects of the overall freight transport system in KZN.

• Determination of required funding to maintain high level of services for all transport modes.

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