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'Blue flag scheme new apartheid'
16/05/2008 11:31 - (SA)
Durban - eThekwini municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe has likened the international Blue Flag scheme to an "apartheid" system that creates separate beaches, the Mercury newspaper reported on Friday.
"The Blue Flag team have, through their actions, created two categories of beaches, much like apartheid having black and white beaches.
"The majority of people here don't go to the Blue Flag beaches," Sutcliffe said at a briefing with the Durban Camber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.
He was speaking on the controversy over sewage-related pollution on the Durban beachfront.
However, Andre Greeff of the chamber's beachfront committee challenged this assertion, saying there were no racial restrictions limiting access to Blue Flag beaches.
He said the main issue was the perception that Durban was "not good enough" to comply with international standards.
Sutcliffe also refused to make a presentation on the blue flag controversy unless the media and opposition party councillors were ejected from the briefing.
Blue flags are part of an international beach quality accreditation scheme.
Four beaches in Durban were once rated world class - however, they have lost their blue flag status, reportedly as a result of poor water and sand quality.
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