Consortium to buy Eastern Cape coastal road?

A NATIONAL business consortium has approached the Eastern Cape government to privatise the R72
coastal road between Port Elizabeth and East London.
If the deal is approved, it would entail tolling the existing route in exchange for a multimillion-rand upgrade and maintenance contract with the consortium partners.
"This would be independent from the maintenance work being carried out at present," said the Eastern Cape MEC for Public Works, Phumulo Masualle.
Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesman on local government, Bobby Stephenson, has welcomed the plan. He said: "It is clear that the government can no longer do the job by itself and urgently needs help from the private sector if we are to avert the crisis facing our province.
"The R72 is in a shocking state and it is obvious that the public works department does not have
the capacity to maintain this road.
"The R72 as a major carrier of vehicles in the Eastern Cape impacts heavily on our economy. It
also affects tourism and needs urgent attention."
He warned, however, that while the DA supported the deal, government should not be allowed to pass all their responsibilities to the private sector, therefore placing additional burdens on road users through excessive tolls.

(Rosemary Wilson)