Dover Harbour Board denies contemplating sale to Calais
by Graham Tutthill and Ruth Banks
Claims that the Port of Dover is being sold to the French have
been described as a "total fabrication".
The chief executive of Dover Harbour Board, Bob Goldfield, has
denied reports that the owners of the port of Calais are leading
the bidding for the port.
In January it was announced that the port intended to privatise,
but Mr Goldfield said that they were still in the very early stages
of the procedure:
"The actual sales process will not begin until the Secretary of
State gives his approval and that is unlikely to be in the next few
weeks.
"Our advisors and our Board have not had any conversations with
the Port of Calais on this matter and no such conversations are
planned or expected."
Earlier this year, Dover Harbour Board announced that it had
made a formal application to the Transport Secretary for authority
to restructure the organisation in order to introduce private
capital.
The restructuring would mean that the port would move fully into
the private sector and would no longer be a trust port.
It followed months of speculation that the port would move in
this direction.
Monday, February 08 2010