The bidding process has been started for a company to manage and operate Dube TradePort (DTP), the new cargo terminal currently being built in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

The closing date for the tender for managing the cargo terminal is December 1.

The DTP, which forms part of a major redevelopment in KwaZulu-Natal, will also comprise a new international airport with an international passenger and cargo airport facility; a trade zone; a support zone; an agricultural zone; and a cyber port.

Construction of the so-called ‘aerotropolis’, which started more than two months late after a delay in environmental approval, is reportedly on track and it is expected to be operational by 2010.