PLANS HAVE been
announced for a R2.5-billion
dry dock at the deepwater
port of Richards Bay – an
ambitious project which
could provide 4 000 new
permanent jobs in the
town, and employ up to
7 000 workers during its
construction phase.
According to FTW
correspondent Terry Hutson,
who attended the launch, it
is a Chinese-SA consortium
which intends to construct
and operate the dry dock.
SA company, Imbani
Projects, has got together
with China Harbour
Engineering Company
(CHEC) – one of the largest
Chinese state-owned
infrastructure design and
construction specialists, he
added.
Amongst CHEC’s
previous achievements
are a 300 000 deadweight
(dwt) ton dry dock in Malta;
the Gwadar deepwater port
in Pakistan; the Calabar
channel dredging in Nigeria;
the Sudan port project; and
the Luanda oil terminal in
Angola
CHEC has also
established a subsidiary
black economic
empowerment (BEE)
company (CHEC-SA) in
Johannesburg – which will
be dedicated to on and
off site training for local
workers.
“The project is expected
to be co-funded by the
Industrial Development
Corporation (IDC) and the
Development Bank of SA,”
Hutson said.
But while this is the
latest chapter in the now
long-standing saga of a dry
dock at Richards Bay, the
scheme has not yet been
finalised.
“Although Transnet
National Ports Authority
(TNPA) attended the launch
and acknowledged the
proposal, they have still not
approved the scheme. And,
until they do so, not even
the environmental impact
assessment can begin.”
But, he was told
by Imbani MD, Briss
Mathabathe, his company
and CHEC were “working
tirelessly with TNPA to get
this project on the go”.
Not only will the
proposed dry dock be a
labour-intensive operation
in its own right, but it is
also expected to generate
thousands more jobs
in satellite industries,
supplying the likes of steel
and paint. It will also be
a major earner of foreign
exchange.
Chinese-SA consortium wants to build RB drydock
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