Government has put plans to develop a R6-billion toll road – between East London and Port Edward – back on track.
Government has put plans to develop a R6-billion toll road between East London and Port Edward back on track. Transport Minister Dullah Omar has said the aim is to have the road completed by about 2004.
An environmental impact assessment and a public participation process are set to start soon, while feasibility studies on traffic volumes are already under way, Business Day reported on Friday.
Cabinet was briefed on the project this week, with Transport Minister Dullah Omar saying recently the project would bring much needed development to Eastern Cape, particularly the impoverished Wild Coast region.
The plan was to call on the private sector to finance, build and manage the road for 30 years, with tenders due to be issued towards the end of next year, the report said.
In terms of the scheme, the existing N2 between East London and Umtata will be upgraded along with part of the road between Umtata and Port St Johns. A new stretch of road, totalling 100 km, will be built to link Port St Johns with Lusikisiki and up to Port Edward, where it will join the N2 again.
The proposed project, being driven by the National Roads Agency, is the second attempt to construct a toll road in the region. The first, more ambitious project, was ditched in late 1997 after it emerged that it was economically unviable and was planned to run through property where there were unresolved land claims.
Nazir Alli, chief executive of the National Roads Agency, yesterday said the alignment and design of the road had been refined. In addition, interest rates had fallen significantly over the past four years, reducing the cost of the project. "We believe it is now much more achievable," he said.
Alli said the road had been redesigned to ensure it did not affect areas where there were land claims and generally avoided encroaching on environmentally sensitive areas, notably the Mkambati Nature Reserve.
Studies had shown the full potential of the Wild Coast region, particularly in terms of tourism and developing small businesses, could be reached only with the construction of a road, he said.
The road would form an integral part of the Wild Coast spatial development initiative, one of eight such schemes either on the cards or under way across the country. The initiative aims to develop ecotourism nodes such as Dwesa, Coffee Bay, Port St Johns and Mkambati.
Alli said the total investment in the project over 30 years was estimated at about R6 billion, with the initial construction phase expected to cost between R600 million and R800 million.
“As many as 5 000 direct jobs would be created during the construction period, which could lead to about 16 000 indirect jobs,” Alli told Business Day.
