Work on R1.7bn Durban airport to start next year

construction on the r1.7 billion king shaka international airport north of durban would start in the second half of next year and would be completed by 2006, the project manager for the dube trade port, said at the weekend.

the new airport forms part of the planned r2.2 billion dube trade port at la mercy, about 50km outside durban. the project incorporates an industrial development zone, a cyberport and a multimodal transport node.

rohan persad, the project manager of the dube trade port, said the priority at the moment was "to build up management capabilities" and to lay the right foundation for the challenges that lie ahead.

in february the dube trade port appointed pricewaterhousecoopers (pwc) as its financial adviser. persad said the auditing and consulting firm's duty was "to take us through the treasury approvals" before the facility invited bidders.

tenders would be put out in about six months, he said.

the la mercy project, which has taken more than 30 years to shape up, received reaffirmation earlier this year when president thabo mbeki announced that r100 billion had been budgeted for capital expenditure in the medium-term expenditure framework. the amount included r55 billion for infrastructure projects, mbeki said.

a national ministerial committee, which includes the ministers of trade and industry, finance, transport and public enterprises, has been established to drive implementation and guide the detailed business plan and financial structuring of the project.

in terms of the cabinet decision taken in april last year, the durban international airport will relocate to la mercy and will then be known as the king shaka international airport.
obed mlaba, the mayor of the ethekwini unicity, said recently that the council had committed r50 million a year towards the project for the next five years.

in addition, the municipality would roll out the bulk of the infrastructure for the project, mlaba said.

airports company south africa (acsa), which owns 10 airports around the country, including the durban international airport, has denied rumours that it was reluctant to relocate to the new site. acsa chief executive monhla hlahla said the parastatal would abide by decisions taken by the government as the majority shareholder.