Other port enviro issues must also be addressed

The proposed Karpowership SA gas-to-power project within the Port of Richards Bay attracted renewed attention last week, and it further polarised the ‘for’ and ‘against’ factions.

The immediate impression is that the dice are fairly loaded in favour of the proponents of the multi billion rand project, who proudly announced that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) had settled for a ‘biodiversity offset agreement’ in terms of which they would not oppose the Environmental Impact Assessment.

This as various informed sources shared information on the proposed purchase by Karpowership SA of a large game farm which would be ‘donated’ to EKZNW – who had previously vigorously opposed the project - in exchange for favourable consideration given to the said agreement.

EKZNW denied to this newspaper that the game farm deal had ever been agreed to and said it would issue a statement on the matter.

Should it be that there was even a tacit arrangement to accept such a donation in exchange for not objecting to the EIA, alarm bells should be ringing loudly.

While everyone is using euphemisms such as ‘incentives’ or implying a ‘sweetener’, the unusual plan to mitigate or offset environmental damage in the port precinct by donating a game farm is highly irregular, to say the least.

Even if the donation of the farm is a genuine gesture of goodwill, it surely would have more strings attached than a parachute.

The entire EIA situation needs further serious examination.

For starters, Ezemvelo is viewed as being the authority that would give the green light in terms of the EIA consent, yet they have had no marine presence in the port for the last few years, after this was handed over to the DFFE.

In fact, the EKZNW offices in Meerensee were closed down and the staff relocated to other areas.

There is also no active Honorary Officers group since the office was abandoned, and whatever policing and patrolling of the marine environment in Richards Bay is mostly being done by civilian volunteers – the DFFE officials seldom being seen in action.

This despite the kilometres of illegal gill nets that are recovered in the harbour, mud flats and estuary each month during night raids.

While so much concern is rightly being voiced about the possible environmental harm the Karpowership project might cause, it seems nobody gives a darn about the illegal and indiscriminate plundering of fish stocks, nor the refrigerated trucks that wait to receive the stolen spoil for delivery at a commercial level.

Nor is the fate of species such as the endangered humpback dolphins, which regularly feed in the harbour area, seemingly on anybody’s agenda other than the researchers themselves.

Perhaps because of the large sums of money at stake, possible future harm to some of the environment has taken precedence over actual harm which has been ongoing and unattended to for years.

Would that some of the environmental energy being invested into saving the port precinct from gas-to-power impacts would also be directed towards other issues, such as the poor housekeeping that sees local residents slowly choking to death on the coal dust that billows from the port.