Battle over the future of Dover port heats up

Monday, 06 September 2010

Dover Harbour Board (DHB) has hit back at union claims that the port of Dover is too important to sell, as the battle over the future of Northern Europe’s busiest ferry port continues, writes Damian Brett.

DHB said that union Unite’s claim that it would be disastrous for the port to fall into the hands of private company was “misguided”.

DHB said the port needed to increase capacity to meet future demand. The only way it could do this was to be sold to a private company as its status as a trust port means it cannot borrow money.

DHB said: “As a trust port, the Port of Dover is unable to finance significant additional capacity when required as its status as a public corporation does not allow it to borrow.

“This will have the ultimate effect of the port being unable in the longer term to handle the increase in traffic forecast over the next 30 years.

“This in turn will create unsustainable congestion and a wholly inefficient port which, as a facility handling around £80 billion (US$123bn) of goods a year will be detrimental to the local and national economy.”

DHB also hit out at Unite’s claim that the people of Dover would lose out if the port was handed over to a private company.

It said it would establish a Port of Dover Community Trust (PDCT), which would be given an immediate cash sum of £10 million and would also get shares in the new company.

The PDCT would be independently chaired and would be both representative and for the benefit of the local community and the long term regeneration of the area.

“Therefore, for Unite to state that the people of Dover will lose out is entirely wrong and its claim that the port’s discharge of social responsibility will suffer is misguided when the port will, through the PDCT, be in a position to do so much more for Dover and its community,” DHB said.

Unite fears that privatisation would reduce labour standards and wages and, as a private company, would be more interested in shareholder return than discharging its social responsibility.

Julia Long, Unite national officer for the docks and ferries sector, said: “There is simply too much at stake to leave the running of this vital link to Europe in the hands of those who will milk this national treasure for profits at the expense of the travelling public and British commerce.”

Dover’s local MP supports the privatisation plan, while three ferry operators are against it.