Fences set up better border
control, writes Ed Richardson
PORTNET HAS upgraded security in Port Elizabeth harbour through the fencing-in of all terminals in the port area.
The R600 000 fence is part of a three-phase National Interdepartmental Structure (Nids) project involving a number of government departments, including the Border Police, Customs and Excise, Home Affairs, Marine & Coastal Management, National Intelligence and the SA Navy.
"By implementing the project, the National Ports Authority is complying with government legislation to improve border control," says Port authority spokesperson Lize Hayward.
The port authority says the fence provides both more effective border control of people and cargo, and a safe and secure environment for outgoing cargo.
"A further advantage is that improved control will enable the government and the NPA to correctly recover tax and wharfage on cargo handled," she says.
The bottom line is crime prevention and the combating and maintenance of law and order.
The NIDS project consists of three phases - the erection of the fence, the provision of office accommodation at the three terminal gates for government officials who will be controlling the gates, and the implementation of a surveillance system, including cameras and movement detectors.
There will be 18 gates altogether of which five will be used by people.
"This project will be implemented in all seven South African ports. The first phase was implemented in the Port of PE as a pilot project," she says.
The Port Authority's Port Engineers Department has also erected a fence worth R105 000 at the Red Ground Area in the port which is rented by parastatal transport company Freight Dynamics
