State-owned freight logistics group Transnet reports that it has concluded the first in what will be a series of stakeholder-engagement sessions on the proposed Durban Dig-Out Port (DDOP) project.

Transnet is overseeing the initial concept work on what could be a R75-billion public–private partnership, earmarked for development at the city’s old international airport site.
Transnet started with high-level technical and environ- mental studies in 2012 and, by July, a number of technical design options should be finalised. The concept phase precedes the prefeasibility and feasibility phases, which are expected to continue for four years.

The initial consultations with representatives from local business, property, environmental and civic associations took place in March.

Stakeholders were asked to comment on a Sustainable Port Development Framework (SPDF) discussion document, which was distributed in February.

Programme director Marc Descoins said the early-stage engagement was designed to share project information, open lines of communication and to initiate a dialogue with various stakeholder groups.

Feedback would be factored into the final SPDF in a bid to integrate environmental and social principles into the planning process.

The project had not been included in Transnet’s seven-year, R300-billion market demand strategy, but had been integrated into government’s second Strategic Integrated Project, or Sip 2, which was focused on upgrading the Durban–Free State–Gauteng freight corridor.

Under the current schedule, construction of the project’s first four-berth phase should begin in 2016, with commissioning proposed for 2020.

Envisaged is the creation, in four phases, of Africa’s largest deep-water container terminal, capable of handling 9.6-million twenty-foot-equivalent units through 16 berths by 2037, and incorporating an automotive terminal and a liquid-bulk handling facility by 2050.

The proposed development has attracted some criticism from surrounding communities and environmental lobby groups, which have argued that there has been too little consultation.