NORTH AMERICA

Privatisation a must in Peru

23 years ago

Calls have been made in Peru for the immediate privatisation of the ports of Paita and Callao, the latter being the main gateway for the capital, Lima. Both require investment totalling $300m which local pundits believe is beyond the capability of any state-run agency. However, others are opposed to the sell-off, believing that the national ports authority, ENAPU, should forge partnerships either with other state companies or with private sector investors.

However, KPA is seeking proposals from private sector companies wishing to invest in port facilities as a means of ensuring that infrastructure work can be implemented as soon as possible.

At present, the whole process is effectively stalled awaiting the passing of a national ports law which will define a new national strategic plan for the domestic maritime trade. One of the main problems has been that, while some investment has been made by state agencies, this has never been followed through. Quay 5 at Callao is a case in point: while ENAPU strengthened the quay side and laid rails in anticipation of deploying quayside gantry cranes for container handling operations, today only geared vessels call, no cranes having ever been installed. Local operator, Ositran, has decided to use MHCs as a short term measure to speed up handling times, although critics claim that these are effectively obsolete and not the sort of equipment that the nation’s leading container port should be aspiring to.