SA: Pan African building in danger

  1. Posted on Monday 17 August 2009 - 10:00
    Mernat
    Image of Mernat
    Mernat Mafirakurewa, AfricaNews reporter in Johannesburg, South Africa
    Construction works at the Pan African Parliament has come to a total halt. The site located in Midrand some 20 kilometers outside Johannesburg has been discovered to be a protected wetland area. The building was to cost about $94,037,165 (770m Rand).
    pan african parliament
    Nicole Barlow the chairperson of Conservation and Environment Association (ECA), a lobby group has threatened to take the responsible authorities to court if they decide to proceed with the project. “We do not believe they conducted the process properly and documents will show that,” she said.

    Barlow said there was no way the Department of Public Works could construct the parliament building without irretrievably damaging the wetland. “The association wants parliament moved away from the site altogether and restoration of the site to some semblance of what it was before the destruction. If that wetland is removed the Hennops River will become badly polluted as a result of the development upstream.

    “SA is 15th in the United Nations list of countries with the most badly polluted surface water in the world. A few years ago we had no pollution,” said Barlow.

    South Africa successfully lobbied to be the permanent host of the PAP parliament beating rivals Libya and Egypt in 2004. PAP is the legislative body of the African Union.

    Work began on the site in June this year and was halted on July 24. In a bid to save the project, the Department of Public Works, is reportedly looking at ways to incorporate the wetland into the building’s design.

    ECA, recently managed to force Airports Company SA to rehabilitate a wetland damaged by a fuel spill at OR Tambo airport and has taken legal action against several developments in the province that threatened protected areas.

    The EAC is demanding a copy of the basic assessment report and the resulting record of decision that gave the thumbs up to the project. Barlow questions the appointment of the consulting company and its credentials to handle a project such as this.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive