Investment in infrastructure powers up growth

By LEIGH-ANNE SA JOE ECONOMIC GROWTH in parts of the Eastern Cape is being underpinned by spending on key infrastructure. During the 2006/07 financial year, the Eastern Cape Department of Transport completed its upgrade of several gravel roads in the province, including the N2 to Kei Mouth and Maclear to Mount Fletcher. The Department and SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) are conducting a feasibility study on tolling the road between East London and the R72 in Port Elizabeth. Approval will help ease the increasing traffic volumes on the route, including heavy vehicles. The Airports Company of South Africa says that a 3 000 metre runway extension at the Port Elizabeth Airport is a “great possibility” with preliminary studies being commissioned. There are also plans to extend the car park at the airport to provide an additional 300 bays. This, and the runway extension, should be completed by early 2010. A R100 million upgrade at Bhisho Airport is under way as part of the Blue Skyway Aviation Strategy for functional rural airstrips in Bhisho and Mthatha. Final studies on an Mthatha airport upgrade are being completed. The port of Port Elizabeth has also attracted significant investment as container traffic volumes reach record levels. According to Transnet Port Terminals 41 362 teus were handled at the container terminal in July, a yearon- year increase of 18%. Growth has been leveraged by new port equipment, eleven straddle carriers, as well as ongoing maintenance. Work on Port Elizabeth’s second port at Ngqura is due to restart following approval from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. The developments include completion of the container handling area, a railway connection from the port to the Coega station and two additional berths for container vessels. But it’s not all smooth sailing. The fight for the relocation of manganese dumps and the fuel tank farm from Port Elizabeth harbour to the Coega IDZ continues. The Mandela Bay Development Agency is eager to get a headstart on the proposed waterfront development in the area, which could become a major tourist attraction for Nelson Mandela Bay featuring an iconic Freedom Statue and a number of supporting facilities. On the other hand, the I ndustrial Development Zones in the Eastern Cape continue to draw investment and capitalise on existing developments. In August, the East London IDZ announced that five new investors from the automotive, construction and logistics sectors would bring around R775 million worth of investment to the IDZ. Most of these investors will manufacture from the ELIDZ’s newly-developed Automotive Supplier Park, a site for first and second tier suppliers of the new Mercedes Benz C-Class. Excitement continues to mount over the construction of the Alcan aluminium smelter at the Coega I DZ. The Canadian company announced a joint-partnership by SNC-Lavalin, Murray and Roberts and H atch for the front-end engineering and design of the first phase of the smelter, which will take nine months to complete. But the electricity crisis has led to talk over the country’s capability to power the smelter and still meet the demands of existing industries. In a recent development, a consortium headed by AES Corporation of the United States was announced as the preferred bidder for a gas turbine peaking power plant of 342MW in the Eastern Cape. Financial closure for this is expected by the end of 2009.