Tata waiting for steel mill ruling

tata steel's planned ferrochrome smelter at the richards bay industrial development zone still hangs in the balance as environmental issues threaten to scupper it.

umhlathuze mayor denny moffat said yesterday: "to be frank, my concerns about the tata investment have deepened. we first started to discuss the proposed project with tata in 2001. it is now 2005 and they have not even broken ground.

"we are getting enormous support from national government. i have personally spoken to deputy president jacob zuma. the problem is we are not getting the support we need from the province. i am hoping dr zuma will highlight the urgency."

tata steel, a subsidiary of india's tata group, may be unwilling to wait any longer and could cancel the r650 million smelter, which is expected to create 1 800 construction jobs over two phases and 130 permanent positions. there is only a six-week window in which to resolve the issue of its location.

the development was stalled in january after mondi objected to it being built next to its operations due to the possibility of products being contaminated by tata's emissions.

umhlathuze's council approached pulp united, jointly owned by sodra of sweden and nct forestry, to consider relocating a planned r2.5 billion pulp mill in alton north to the site next to mondi, known as 1d, which would allow tata to build in alton north.

however, pulp united has been reluctant to commit to the move until it has certain guarantees regarding environmental issues.

peter keyworth, a director of pulp united, said yesterday: "there are negotiations and investigations under way. but there is only a four- to six-week window remaining in which relocation will still be an option."

sensitive grasslands at 1d could result in environmental objections to the pulp united development. moffat has given a commitment to ezemvelo kzn wildlife that the council would offset the grassland loss with another biodiverse area.

the mayor said he had secured "letters of comfort" from the provincial wildlife body with regard to the offset, but pulp united is seeking a positive record of decision on an environmental impact assessment.

moffat has tried unsuccessfully to get assurances from the provincial government on an accelerated time frame for an assessment.

he said the deputy president supported the projects and he hoped zuma's support would influence the relevant mecs to respond soon.