VASCO
Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) Chairman Venkata Ramana Akkaraju on Friday said the port had plans to privatise berths 9, 10 and 11 to stress more on green cargo and improve the financial health of the port.
Akkaraju also assured that the main thrust of the MPA would always be to provide more employment opportunities to locals.
"Goa was a mono-cargo port where iron ore would be handled, but because of various State and Central government policies, there were restrictions and we had to depend on other cargo for survival.”
“We have to think out of the box to improve the financial health of the Goa port and we have projects in the pipeline that includes better mechanisation at berths 9, 10 and 11 to increase the efficiency and lower the environmental issues.”
“Finally, even if we plan privatisation of berths 9, 10 and 11, our thrust will be to give more employment opportunities to locals because the more infrastructure that we create and the more cargo that we handle, the higher will be the opportunity to create employment for locals. We are also prepared to handle the iron ore cargo in case mining activity resumes in the State.”
Akkaraju reassured that there was no scope of pollution at coal handling units in the port.
"We are using unloaders, sprinklers and other equipment of global standards, and there is pollution control monitoring equipment. The feed is given to various authorities who can check the readings.”
“Our stress is more on green cargo at berths 9, 10 and 11, of which 10 and 11 are for container cargo and even iron ore can be handled at outer anchorage.”
“We are also trying to expedite highway works, after which transportation costs will reduce and goods will get competitive in the international market and industries will increase, leading to a rise in employment opportunities, per capita income and boost in the economy," said Akkaraju.
"As of now, Pharma companies have direct connectivity from JNPT port Mumbai where mother vessels come, whereas in Goa we have feeder container vessels only which will either go to Mumbai, Kochi or Sri Lanka, increasing the transportation cost. We don't have a proper facility and only one harbour crane.”
“We are now trying to zero down and find a solution and privatise berths 10 and 11 for container cargo. Once we have two cranes, we can expect people to prefer the Goa port," said Akkaraju.
