UNCLAS COTONOU 000617

SIPDIS

DEPRTMENT FOR AF/W (BANKS) AND AF/RSA
COGARD MIO EUROPE ROTTERDAME NL FOR LCDR KEITH
LOME FOR DCM J.A. DIFFILY
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID EINV ETRD EWWT PGOV KHLS PTER BN
SUBJECT: PORT OF COTONOU: UPDATE ON DEMARCHE CONCERNING ISPS CODE
COMPLIANCE

REF: A) Cotonou 561; B) Cotonou 389


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. At the request of the Mr. Armand Zinzindohou,
Minister Delegate for Public Works in the Office of the President,
the Charge d'Affaires, along with the Millennium Challenge
Corporation Benin Acting Resident Country Director and the
Coordinator of the Benin MCA Team, toured the Port of Cotonou along
with Minister Zinzindohou, the General Director of the Port of
Cotonou, and several other Government of Benin (GOB) officials on
August 10, 2007. The GOB officials, who are clearly very concerned
about the upcoming August 21 deadline for the Port of Cotonou to
comply with the minimum requirements of the International Ship and
Port Security (ISPS) Code (Reftel B), wanted to show USG officials
evidence of progress made since the July visit of U.S. Coast Guard
(USCG) Commander Robert Keith (Reftel A). It was evident to the USG
officials that much progress had been made, particularly with regard
to fencing, lighting, and access control. In conversations with the
Minister Delegate and in a meeting afterward, which was open to the
press, the Charge d'Affaires expressed appreciation for the great
effort that the GOB was making and for the progress that had been
achieved, but emphasized that it would be the USCG which would make
the final determination regarding the Port of Cotonou's compliance
with the ISPS code. END SUMMARY.


2. After a brief meeting at the office of Christophe Aguessy,
General Director of the Port of Cotonou, Minister Delegate
Zinzindohou and Mr. Aguessy, along with an entourage of other GOB
officials, escorted the Charge and the rest of the American
delegation on a tour of the port.
At the main entrance of the port, the Minister Delegate personally
ordered several unauthorized vendors to leave the area, and gave
detailed instructions on access controls. Here, as well as on
several other occasions later on during the tour, he emphasized to
Port of Cotonou employees the urgency of ISPS compliance and the
great importance of the Port of Cotonou to the economy of Benin.


3. Inside the Port, the Minister Delegate spoke with workers, making
sure that they were wearing their identification badges or armbands,
and becoming angry when he came across a group of dock workers
without identification badges. He engaged in an animated discussion
with a representative of the transportation workers union, who
claimed that slow customs inspectors and forwarding agents prevented
the truck drivers from unloading their vehicles quickly, thus
causing congestion in the port area. The union representative
nevertheless thanked the Minister Delegate and the Port Director for
their efforts, which he said had made the port safer for members of
his union.


4. The Minister Delegate then took the American delegation all
around the perimeter of the port, pointing out improvements that had
been made in fencing, new walls, and lighting. The Charge
d'Affaires told the Minister Delegate that significant improvements
had clearly been made in the last several weeks, particularly in the
areas of access controls, security, reduced congestion, fencing, and
lighting.


5. COMMENT: The intense personal involvement of Minister Delegate
Zinzindohou demonstrates the depth of the GOB concern over the
upcoming ISPS compliance deadline. While initial compliance efforts
may have been somewhat lackadaisical, the GOB is clearly trying to
make up for lost time, and is making a sincere effort to bring the
Port of Cotonou into full compliance prior to the August 21
deadline. The Charge d'Affaires expressed appreciation for these
efforts, but emphasized that the U.S. Coast Guard would make the
final determination.

Lauterbach