Cost benefit analysis will decide future of ore and oil terminals

Announcement expected by year-end ED RICHARDSON AN ANNOUNCEMENT on the relocation of the manganese ore and oil terminals from the PE Harbour to the Port of Ngqura should be made at the end of 2006 by the Department of Public Enterprises. Speaking at the Mandela Bay Development Agency’s Port Elizabeth Property Investors’ Conference recently, Minister Alec Erwin said that a decision on the relocation, which will be based on a cost-benefit analysis that is currently under way, should be announced by the department at the end of 2006. Erwin said that urban development in the Port Elizabeth harbour was currently constrained by the location of the manganese ore and oil terminals. “The relocation of the manganese ore terminal to Ngqura in support of broader national strategy to relocate dirty industries outside of the cities to outlying industrial ports is a key consideration,” says Erwin “Operationalisation of Ngqura would provide an opportunity for the relocation, catalyse the minerals cluster at Ngqura, and free up land for alternative use in the PE harbour.” The Minister is still in favour of the waterfront development at the Port Elizabeth harbour, citing the economic benefits that it would generate for the city and the region. These include job creation, an increase in Gross Domestic Product, and revenue collection. In concluding, Erwin said that the department would keep an eye on developments in Nelson Mandela Bay. “Developments around infrastructural projects such as Ngqura mean that my department and I will always have a keen interest in Port Elizabeth.”