Talks to resolve dispute between truckers, residents

TRUCKS travelling through Durban’s suburban roads and growing truck congestion across the city are being addressed, after a meeting between eThekwini municipality and the South Durban (SD) Trucking Coalition, along with a number of other role-players.

This week, Shanice Firmin, from the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), who heads up the SD Trucking Coalition, confirmed a “fruitful meeting” was held, which was attended by numerous stakeholders including city representatives, eThekwini Transport Authority, Civil Engineering, Roads, Metro Police, Land Use Management, Roads, eThekwini Municipality Communications Unit and affected community residents.

Concern was raised by residents, particularly in the Glenwood, Umbilo, Bluff, Montclair, Wentworth, Clairwood and Mobeni suburbs, about trucks using suburban roads to get to the port, often breaking down or getting stuck on hills and causing traffic jams. Firmin said: “We are looking at these issues which need to be broken down into short-, mid- and long-term goals. It’s not going to be overnight and it’s going to take some time.

“There are so many roads which are being impacted by trucking,” she said.

She said the trucking industry was made up of long-haul (long distance e.g. from Gauteng) and short haul (local companies moving goods back and forth between warehouses to the port).

Many short-haul truck owners are local and also park their trucks on the side of the road outside their homes, while many small truck yards have also sprung up in suburban areas. Issues include new infrastructure being damaged soon after being installed, routing using GPS systems with some suburban roads not being blocked by such systems, and having more efficient scheduling systems into the port.

“One of the main community issues was trucks on suburban roads and enforcement by Metro will be needed. With the short-haul trucks, a lot of them do not have set times and will all arrive at the port facility at once, so this issue also needs to be tackled,” said Firmin.

She said the planned Cato Ridge development to reduce the truck congestion in Durban, which envisages long-haul trucks offloading at Cato Ridge and products being railed into the port, was expected to still take a number of years to develop. In the meanwhile, new stop and stage areas were being sought in Durban.

“At the meeting, there were many government departments willing to resolve these issues, and to have everyone sitting at the table, it was a very fruitful meeting,” said Firmin.

eThekwini municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said new signage was erected, and engagements with the community happened.

He said the city would share the Integrated Freight and Logistics Plan for the Cato Ridge development at the next meeting.

“We will give them an overview of all the interventions being considered