Yemen Terminates Saleh-era Dubai Ports World Aden Contract
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The Media Line Staff
Sana'a, Dubai, Yemen (The Media Line) - Yemenis rejoiced this week with word
that the contract with Dubai Ports World (DPW) to operate the Port of Aden
had been terminated.
The contract was one of the remaining links to the thirty-plus-year reign of
former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and a reminder of how business was
transacted during Saleh's reign. Secretly signed by officials of the regime
in 2008, the agreement to operate the Aden port was later attacked for
depriving Yemen of significant financial resources by virtue of providing
the UAE-based company with a 100-year lease on terms disadvantageous to the
state that nevertheless went unfulfilled.
On Saturday, Transportation Minister Dr. Waed Batheeb ordered The Gulf of
Aden Ports Corporation, a governmental agency under the aegis of the
transportation ministry, to end the contract.
For Batheeb, who represents the Yemeni Socialist Party in the National Unity
Government which was formed after Saleh was removed from office in 2011, it
was the end of a long quest that began before the regime-change. Since last
February, Batheeb survived three assassination attempts, the most recent of
which came on the day the contract termination was announced.
According to officials of Yemen's Ministry of Transportation, the actual
cause for ending the contract that under DPW's tenure, Aden's terminals -
which the company was supposed to be developing - deteriorated instead. An
official at the ministry who asked not to be identified because he was not
authorized to comment to media told The Media Line that, "the port used to
receive around 200,000 tankers every year, but since DPW took charge, this
number decreased to 165,000 tankers."
He added that the transportation minister attempted to solve the problem
cordially, traveling to Dubai last February to meet with DPW officials. But
he reported that the company "showed no response."
A report released in July by the parliament's Transportation and
Telecommunication Committee described the contract with DPW as being more
political than economic. It accused the company of weakening the operations
of Aden's terminals and not abiding to the terms of the contract. One
example cited was DPW's failure to expand the dock at the port to a length
of 100 meters and a depth of 18-meters as it had agreed to do.
Expressing the thoughts of most Yemenis, Mostfat Nasr, an economist, told
The Media Line that, "Terminating the contract with DPW is a good step." But
he admonished that, "from now, it is the responsibility of the government to
restore the port to its normal place."
That "place" figures prominently in the nation's post-Saleh socio-economic
realities. The new Yemeni government sees improving the economy as being a
key to creating stability in the aftermath of the uprising that ultimately
ended Saleh's rule. With unemployment at more than forty-per cent, the new
Yemeni government had hoped the port, properly managed, could produce 10,000
jobs for Yemeni workers.
The port of Aden has strong potential for producing revenue on a large scale
according to Dr. Mohamed Jurban, professor of economics at the University of
Sana'a. He told The Media Line that its strategic location, only miles from
the Strait of Bab Al-Mandeb, connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden,
makes it a key route for tankers and ships going to and from south Asia and
Europe. The strait is a chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle
East, and a principle link between the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.
"When tankers cross the Strait of Bab Al-Mandeb, and they are in need for
gas charging or regular maintenance, it is better for them to do this
service in Aden's terminals than sailing thousands of kilometers to have
this service performed in Dubai or Djibouti where the weather there is not
good as Aden," Prof. Jurban explained. But, he cautioned that, "There must
be a good administration to be capable of attracting the tankers that pass
through the strait."
Yemeni officials believe improvement in the situation at the Aden port will
also go a long way toward convincing the international community to extend
financial assistance. Next month, a conference of donor nations including
the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the
Gulf States is scheduled to take place.
Popular support for the strategy was confirmed by 57-year old Ahmed Nasser,
who predicted that, "We have our resources and we will not be in need for
such donor conferences if our resources are managed efficiently with no
corruption."
It is still unclear whether the Yemeni government will take over operations
at the Aden port or will seek a replacement for DPW. But either way, the
process must reflect "competent management by the government "or tendering
it in competition in a transparent way," in the opinion of Nasr.
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Received on Thu Aug 30 2012 - 13:37:51 EDT
