Funds must be
balanced between
people and
equipment,
writes Leonard Neill
THE STRENGTH of the US dollar against the rand is having a devastating effect on Portnet's skills force, with many capable people being poached by overseas groups, says Siyabonga Gama, chief executive of the National Ports Authority.
"It is a very difficult situation and one we are finding tough to address in the short term," he told a breakfast gathering of the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( JCCI) last week.
"There is a big shortage of maritime expertise in this country at present because of the situation. The power of the dollar is enabling overseas agents to poach many of our top operators.
"We do have a good relationship with the Rotterdam Maritime College and were able to arrange training of 40 new pilots and tug masters last year in an ongoing exercise. But replacing all the people we have lost will take time. There is a dire shortage of skills in the maritime sector and we are searching for good people and turning them into the best to meet our needs."
On the score of human resources, Gama said that Portnet was busy gaining a better understanding of what the challenges were in this field. The question was whether more equipment or more people were needed, he said.
"Right now we are finalising the terminal operating agreement with SA Port Operations (SAPO). We are concerned at the efficiency at terminals, and gaining a clear guideline and a mandate for the future has become one of our key issues. But the funds available to us have to be directed to both developing infrastructure and getting the right people on board, and we have to balance it somewhere along the line."
