PEMSEA and GTZ Collaborate for Sustainable Port Development

Quezon City, Philippines — PEMSEA has signed a Letter of Cooperation with GTZ (German Technical Cooperation) to jointly assist participating ports in the project: "Sustainable Port Development in the ASEAN Region." The objective of the project is to implement and continually improve safety, health and environmental (SHE) management under an integrated systematic approach in accordance with the provisions of the Port Safety, Health and Environmental Management (PSHEM) Code. The project supports the ASEAN Ports Association (APA) in its bid to improve environmental and occupational safety and health management in selected ports of the region.On 21 and 22 January 2010, GTZ organized the Inception Workshop of the project in Bangkok, hosted by the Port Authority of Thailand. Fifty-two representatives from APA, GTZ, PEMSEA and the port authorities of Bangkok and Laem Chabang (Thailand), Saigon (Viet Nam), Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville (Cambodia), Tanjung Priok and Tanjung Perak (Indonesia), Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo (Philippines), Dili (Timor-Leste) participated in the workshop.During the workshop, port managers, port officials responsible for safety, health and environmental management, and experts discussed the strategy, approach and activities of the project. PEMSEA presented and explained the required phases, conditions, management commitment and inputs for the development and implementation of a PSHE Management System at the participating ports.Following the workshop, the main activities conducted during the first and second semester of 2010 focused on the Initial Status Review (ISR) of the safety, health and environmental management systems in the participating ports. From February to April, GTZ and PEMSEA conducted the Initial Status Review of Phnom Penh Autonomous Port and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in Cambodia, Saigon Port in Viet Nam, Tanjung Priok Port and Tanjung Perak Port in Indonesia, and Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines.The objectives of the ISR are to review performance and status of SHE management and to identify bottlenecks and deficiencies of existing systems and procedures. Another objective of the review is to develop recommendations for the participating ports for the development of action plans oriented towards the improvement of SHE management at the Port.In August of 2010, GTZ and PEMSEA will organize a Regional Planning Workshop aimed at developing and implementing a work program for each port based on the results of the ISR and in accordance with the provisions of the PSHEM Code of PEMSEA.