Negotiations between the National Port Authority (NPA) and CODECO (consortium made up of P&O Nedlloyd and TCII) around the concession for the development and operations of a container terminal and logistics park within the Coega Industrial Development Zone have been terminated, it was disclosed on Wednesday.

"The NPA was given a mandate in 2001 by the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) to manage negotiations pertaining to the development of the Coega container terminal. However, due to unresolved fundamental issues around the terms of the concession between CODECO and the NPA, these negotiations cannot continue," the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE)
said in a statement.

Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin, who supported the move, said: "After a tender process in 2000, the CDC signed a Project Development Agreement (PDA) with CODECO. This PDA effectively gave CODECO preferential partner status in these negotiations. In addition, the unresolved issues fall outside the jurisdiction of both the NPA and CDC and this would require policy intervention and possibly subsidies from government."

Erwin pointed out that at present government was in the process of finalising:
· Terminal concessioning in the context of national port strategy
· Policy issues pertaining to the ports and logistics system
· Developmental support that will make a concession viable

He added he remained optimistic about the Coega container terminal concession. "A tender will be advertised once the above process is complete and all interested parties, including CODECO, will be invited to bid," he stated.