City does not want Winelands toll
2013-03-20 22:21
Johannesburg - Cape Town has been told by the SA National
Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), that Sanral intends resuming the N1-N2 Winelands
toll highway project, the City said on Wednesday.
Mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said
a review application currently before the Western Cape High Court was yet to be
decided.
Sanral previously agreed it would take no further steps
towards implementing the toll road project pending the city's review
application, he said.
It undertook to provide the city with 45 days' notice of
its intention to start working on the toll project.
"Such notification was received on 6 March 2013.
This means that Sanral could commence work on the project by 20 April 2013
without first resolving the City's concerns," Herron said in a statement.
"The City does not believe that Sanral has been
transparent in its engagement with the city, and hence we will ask the court to
compel Sanral to provide all information necessary regarding this project as a
matter of urgency."
This would allow the review process to be concluded
fairly and speedily, he said.
Herron said Sanral had so far refused to share
information relevant to the costs of upgrading and tolling the N1 and N2, the
likely magnitude of the toll fees, and the impacts on road users, the local
economy and the city.
In March last year, the City filed an application in the
Western Cape High Court to review the decision by Sanral and some ministers to
toll the highways.
"This review has not yet been concluded and the City
believes that Sanral's decision to go ahead with this project... undermines the
right of the City and its people to have the court determine the lawfulness of
the project before it commences."
Herron said the City had made every reasonable effort to
resolve the dispute through an inter-governmental dispute process.
"We believe the decisions which authorised the
tolling of the N1 and N2 are unlawful, unreasonable and procedurally
unfair," he said.
Sanral general manager Vusi Mona confirmed that its legal
team did issue the notification as "certain road sections are
deteriorating at a fast pace.
"Please note that Sanral will not provide further
comment as the matter is sub judice," he said.
- SAPA
