Cape Town terminal sets 2008 deadline

RAY SMUTS CONSTRUCTION OF the proposed multi-million rand extension to the Cape Town container terminal is expected to start in 2006 and be completed in 2008. That’s the confident prediction of the National Ports Authority following approval from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism for the development. The DEAT's Record of Decision (ROD) draws for its finding on a bulky CSIR environmental impact study commissioned by the NPA at a cost of more than R1 million. Approval is given with several provisos, among them that all interested parties (some 235) are advised in writing of the decision and given 30 days in which to appeal direct to the department, should they so desire. Furthermore, the NPA is called upon to advertise the decision in the media. The ROD notes the NPA proposes to extend the container terminal stacking area by reclaiming a 300-metre wide, approximately 1 200 metre-long section from the sea, parallel and seaward from the existing container terminal, thereby increasing the container terminal surface by approximately 432 hectares. Cost of the extension has been estimated at between R700 million and R1 billion but as the development is at least three years off, those figures could well be surpassed.