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OPINION

Toll Road

April 29, 2005

by The
Editor

The original Wild Coast Toll Road plan was
flawed from the beginning. Among other things some officials
connected with it appeared to approach the project from a
preconceived standpoint - having made up their minds prior to
public consultation.

The media also battled to obtain
full public disclosure about key facts - such as ill-conceived
proposals to use toll funds obtained from Durban road-users to
cross-subsidise construction in the Eastern Cape.

The
whole plan was so fraught with pitfalls and difficulties that it
was widely opposed in this region, including in the KwaZulu-Natal
legislature.

What appeared to be hidden agendas and
half-truths only served to infuriate people.

Fortunately
that plan was canned when the authorities discovered there was a
conflict of interests. According to the national minister there
were close and "inappropriate" links between the N2 Toll Road
Consortium and the Bohlweki environmental consultancy, which
co-ordinated the project's impact assessment.

Now, just months later, a new
consultancy firm has been appointed to conduct a new environmental
impact assessment of the proposed route between Durban and East
London - and a fresh plan for the same toll road is being
presented to the government.

Of course a major road of this
type always will draw out vested interests. However, it is to be
hoped that much more care and deeper thought will be exercised
this time around.

The start is again problematic in that it
is difficult to obtain all the facts. The agency involved would
not disclose whether the latest plan had been modified to consider
route-change proposals made by environmental groups.

All we
can hope for is that sense will prevail this time and that
decisions will be taken - and be seen to be taken - in an
objective, impartial and constructive way.

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