Lift-off plan for La Mercy project

lift-off plan for la mercy project

more than 30 years have passed since it was first proposed that durban's international airport be relocated to la mercy, north of the city. today a new political will is propelling the r2bn project to reality, as the sa exporter's nicola jenvey discovered
when the first planes finally take off from the la mercy runway in 2006, the facility will be sa's second international airport outside the airports company of sa stable. the new kruger airport in nelspruit holds the honour of first position.

sceptics may still need convincing that the project will go ahead, but roger burrows, economic development and tourism minister for kwazulu-natal, recently awarded pricewaterhousecoopers an r11m contract to act as the financial transaction adviser.

so dube trade port, as the new airport development will be known, has taken its first tentative steps.

"the development will be a platform for sustainable job creation ... (and) provide unique opportunities for entrepreneurs to take advantage of increasing liberalisation and trading in the global economy," burrows says.

it was the kwazulu-natal provincial government that injected urgency into the dusty proposal when it resolved to relocate the airport to la mercy by 2006. however, international benchmarks had shifted in the intervening years, encouraging the government to reinvent the project from an airport to "a new-generation global-trade port".

dube trade port ceo rohan persad says the effect of the development is still being calculated, but one guarantee is its potential to create jobs.

"in a nutshell, it will boost the standard of living among ordinary people in kwazulu-natal. the potential for a new link with the international arena opens a host of opportunities for emerging businesses and fresh ventures," he says.

a r2bn development is being planned, featuring a passenger airport, an airfreight facility, an industrial development zone and a cyberport. the latter is in line with the increasing role the internet and web-based transactions are playing in supply chain management.

broadly defined, a cyberport is an advanced office environment that allows companies to transact their business via the internet.

the expanded proposal followed studies of special economic zones and bonded operations in north america, china and the middle east.

the airport anchors the jobcreating industrial developments and links in the logistics chain.

political buy-in has been impressive, with the project receiving a mention in president thabo mbeki's state of the nation address in february. the brief mention promised that details of the project would be finalised later this year, opening the door to the private sector for participation.

over the decades, the question of how to fund the initiative has remained unanswered. pricewaterhousecoopers is to provide the core financial advice and overall service provision management. after that, the project must obtain national treasury approval for a feasibility study.

one certainty is that it will be a public-private sector partnership. another is the promotion of black economic empowerment.

burrows says the development will support sustainable job- creation, and will attract fixed investment. it will also provide entrepreneurial opportunities, particularly among blacks, to take advantage of increasing liberalisation and trading in the global economy.

the master plan proposes both freight and passenger use over the next three to five decades, but the particular focus will be on scheduled freighter movement. in essence, it is a gateway for entrepreneurs to access freight services for timesensitive products. the knock-on benefit is the opening of new avenues for the export of high-value exports like fresh-cut flowers, fruit, salads and vegetables. flowers can be in european flower markets the morning after they have been cut.

persad says the timetable for moving to the new facility has been advanced by two years as the facilitators do what is required to smooth the way for private-sector investment, including sorting out regulatory and statutory issues, licensing, tweaking the master plan and carrying out environmental impact assessments.

however, he is confident there is no going back on the project now.

but what is to become of the existing airport south of the city? over the years, a host of alternatives have been suggested, from flooding the land to building additional quays for the durban container terminal to developing the area into a petrochemical hub. the latter, although in keeping with surrounding land use, is unlikely to find favour with local residents, who are already unhappy at levels of industrialisation and pollution in the area.

the present thinking is to develop the land into a commercial and business hub serving the nearby residential areas and townships and diversifying commercial development across durban. persad says cost benefit analyses are under way and government "wants to pursue the one offering the best option for kwazulu-natal".

fortunately there is still time before the big move takes place.