JIA industrial zone gets the cabinet nod

Infrastructure upgrades will improve access Leonard Neill CABINET has given the green light to South Africa's proposed fourth industrial development zone (IDZ). Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin announced last Wednesday that a site adjacent to Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) would be designated for this purpose, becoming the first inland IDZ. Zones have already been approved at the ports of East London and Richards Bay and the planned development at Coega. The R213million project is part of a strategy by developers Blue IQ to attract foreign investors to a cluster of light manufacturing, avionics and aerospace industries. While it is not the intention of the developers to include additional cargo terminals in the planning, the IDZ project is aimed at providing for the manufacture of high-value, low-bulk goods that would typically be air freighted to overseas markets. Blue IQ's free zone project manager Sipho Mhlongo says that the IDZ is to be developed in partnership with the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa), armaments manufacturer Denel and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council (East Rand). "The site was chosen to take maximum advantage of existing Denel Aviation aerospace and aviation facilities in the airport complex, and its proximity to current and future cargo terminals and the existing infrastructure," he said. The site allocated for the development comprises 288ha on the eastern boundary of the airport. Three infrastructure projects in the vicinity of the airport have been targeted for initial attention. The R21/K157/K90 interchange will be linked into Atlas Road, the R42 and K157 (Atlas Road) are to be upgraded, as is the Elizabeth Road off-ramp from the N12 freeway. The last-named is not considered critical at this stage, but will be needed within five years to cope with increased traffic. An environmental impact assessment is currently under way to upgrade Atlas Road and the K90 interchange, and construction will start early next year, once final government approval is gazetted. The infrastructure projects are aimed at improving accessibility, says Mhlongo, especially on the eastern approaches to the airport, and will establish a ring-road system around the airport.