DA: Pondoland road 'suspect'

2003-12-11 14:21

Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance has added its voice to the rapidly growing chorus of objections to the proposed new toll road that will run through the Pondoland coast in the Eastern Cape.

The opposition party has called on the public and affected communities in the region to appeal to Environmental Affairs Minister Valli Moosa to scrap the proposal.

"The argument against the proposed N2 rerouting through Pondoland is so overwhelming that there could not possibly be any reason why the plan should be carried out," DA transport spokesperson Stuart Farrow said in a statement on Thursday.

Farrow said his party was vehemently opposed to the rerouting of the N2.

"The DA believes the rerouting is strongly linked to the proposals from an Australian mining company to mine the Pondoland dunes.

"The reluctance of the Eastern Cape government and Minister Moosa's department to declare the proposed Pondoland Park area a World Heritage site raises serious suspicions."

The proposed realignment meant the new road would pass through 20km of an area recognised internationally as a botanical hotspot.

Farrow said alternatives to the route, such as the upgrading of the existing R61 road in the region, had not been adequately researched in the environmental impact assessment government had commissioned.

"The upgrading of the R61 (estimated at R340m) is much cheaper than the rerouting of the N2. The proposed plan will cost more than R1.9bn, which is the amount which would have to be spent on bridges alone."

Farrow said he hoped Moosa would listen to the more than 20 000 appeals he had received against the road.

"It is time for sanity to prevail," he said.

- SAPA