TERRY HUTSON
THE NEW port at Coega on the East Cape coast will not in any way deflect business away from either of the other two ports in the region, says Port Authority CEO Siyabonga Gama.
Speaking to a parliamentary sub-committee last week, Gama said that Coega was intended as a catalyst that would encourage the relocation of industries to the Eastern Cape. He said that Coega would also attract new industry to the region, especially those involved in heavy industrial exports, which could take advantage of the deep water port.
Gama compared Coega with the port of Richards Bay, which had been transformed from a small fishing village into a specialised coal port.
Portnet would not stop development at East London or Port Elizabeth. The new port will complement and not interfere with either of the other two ports, he said.
Work on phase one of the R1,65 billion new port project and industrial development zone got underway last month with roadworks from a stone quarry to the port site, which will be used to build the breakwaters. The first ship is due to dock at Coega in late 2004.
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