Political appointees – past their sell by date

The system is in many ways a hangover of the days when port activities were largely wholly undertaken by the public sector in what can be described as “pure public sector mode.” Today, however, the front-line of port activities – cargo handling – is now mainly the province of the private sector.

Equally, there has been a strong commercialisation of port management bodies – many, especially in mature markets, are now corporatized entities and at the far end of the change scale there are also now wholly privatised port management bodies.

Classic theory is that a political appointee at the top of a port authority is there to represent the interests of government in conjunction with what is regarded as a strategic asset. There is also the reality, however, that there can be a significant element of ‘grace and favour’ about such an appointment – ‘jobs for the boys.’

Experience shows, for example, that politically driven appointments to the post of a president of a port authority can be implemented as a reward for services rendered elsewhere. It can, in effect, simply be a sinecure.

Or – as we still see in some emerging markets today – it can be useful for some parties higher up in government to steer port-related events such as concession offers so that they end up incorporating elements that work to their financial benefit.

Ultimately the question is do political appointments at the top of a port authority still serve any useful purpose or conversely do they get in the way of rational decision making? Is the system now more of a negative force than a positive one?

There is no doubt that the world of ports has changed markedly over recent decades. It is now much more commercial and rightly so. Accordingly, the skill sets required to achieve effective port management have shifted away from the political dimension into a much more commercial realm – a sphere where rational decision-making takes place untainted by wider political considerations.

Port management bodies without a political appointee at the top do still have to take account of political factors – not least when seeking public sector funding – but clearly they can act in a much more unbiased way. This is without doubt the most appropriate road map to follow in the future.