Dismay at Brics loan for harbour
THE recent approval of a Brics New Development Bank loan of R2.5 billion to expand the Durban Container Port Terminal was done without any consultation with affected communities and environmentalists, says the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA)
SDCEA project co-ordinator Desmond D’sa has appealed to Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene to intervene as the newly appointed chairman of the New Development Bank.
Nene, who was reappointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as finance minister in February, was appointed chairperson of the bank’s board of governors this week at a meeting of the bank’s leadership in Shanghai, China.
D’SA said by failing to properly consult people about the port expansion project, Brics Bank lenders had ignored the interests of various parties, including schoolchildren “who will be adversely affected by thousands of additional hazardous, polluting trucks that will overrun our community roads and freeways” .
He said younger generations across the world would also be “victimised by climate change, given the high contribution of shipping emissions to global warming”.
Bird and marine life dependent upon the ecologically vital sandbank in the middle of the port would also be adversely affected, said D’SA.
People were also concerned about “further Transnet governance degradation, given that a similar $5 billion (R63bn) loan from Brics member China in 2013 was abused to help Chinese subcontractors
Gupta family.”
“It appears that instead of caring about the people, our communities, our workers, our environment, and our youth, we will be paying for the costs of this loan in many ways,” said D’SA. “As SDCEA, we will be protesting about this loan and other concerns about Brics corruption, maldevelopment and climate change at the Brics Business Council when it comes to Durban and the Brics heads of state conference in Sandton, in late July.”
Meanwhile, Nene’s appointment as chairperson of Brics Development Bank has been welcomed in many quarters. Dr Petrus de Kock, Brand South Africa’s general manager for research, said: “We welcome Minister Nene’s appointment, which comes in an intensified investment drive.” and the